Google Cloud Blog

 One of my colleagues at Atos has started a blog - check it out!

Jamie Thompson• Senior Cloud Architect specialising in GCP (Atos Expert: Hybrid Cloud)

 

43 minutes ago

I’ve created a blog site at www.cloudbabble.co.uk where I’ll be posting blogs about Google Cloud, my experiences, products, services, technical deep dives, certification advice, guidance and more!

Here’s my first post titled ‘Why Google Cloud? Part 1: Security’ where I discuss the features of Google Cloud that make me choose security as one of the reasons why I choose Google Cloud. 

As you might guess by the title, I’ll be publishing more ‘Why Google Cloud?’ blogs in the near future!

Feel free to like, share and comment on my posts! If you enjoy what you read, subscribe and I will keep you updated with new posts as they arrive!

VMware for Dummies guides in PDF format

 

Came across this repository of VMware <Product> for Dummies guides in PDF format and wanted to share :D

GitHub - imtrinity94/vmware-for-dummies: Collection of VMware For Dummies Books for Easy Access [UPDATED 01-07-2022]

Fedora 35 Live ISO wont install or crashes?

 I just had a problem where my new Fedora 35 Live ISO download was crashing as a Virtualbox VM. This was the initial boot so I could install the OS. It would start to boot and load the GUI but all I'd see was a black screen or a Centos Live User login prompt.

The solution that worked for me was as simple as to change the RAM I had given the VM from 1024MB to 2048MB :D

VCF in Nested Lab

 

I am still working at Atos and thought I might try and re-apply for vExpert this/next year, so I am writing a blog post on my current fun project – trying to get VCF and Cloud Builder working in a Nested VMWare Workstation Lab!

For this I am using my LabTop™ which is an IBM *cough* sorry – LENOVO P70 with 40GB RAM (2x16GB and 2x4GB), but I can upgrade it to 64GB by swapping out the 2x4GB dimms and replacing with another 2x16GB.

For storage I have a 512GB nvme drive for the Host OS (Windows) and a 1TB SSD in the 2.5” drive bay configured as D: to the host. I will keep most (if not all) of my VMDKs on the D: as I have run some pretty big labs (one was using about 34GB of RAM over 8 VMs) on this setup before and I never noticed the VMDKs struggling.

Standby for more posts as I figure out how to do this, but I’ll be starting of with this post from my ex-colleague;

https://blog.bertello.org/2019/08/building-nested-vcf-using-vcf-lab-constructor-vlc/

I *may* then tear down the product and try to set up manually if I have learnt enough :D

 

Changing VM networks in bulk

WOW Its been a LONG TIME since I wrote a blog post!!

Anyway, a colleague today asked me how to change the vNetwork of hundreds of VMs automagically, so I cannibalized a previous post and came up with this;

The VMs can be on.
Put a list of the VM names into a CSV.
Change PATH-TO-CSV in the below script appropriately i.e. c:\vm_names.csv
Change NETWORK-NAME-HERE in the below script appropriately
Save the below as a .ps1 file and run

Let me know if it doesn't work on your Infrastructure!

$csv = import-csv PATH-TO-CSV

foreach ($line in $csv) {

 write-host **** Changing $line.vm to new network ****

$targetvm = $line.vm

get-vm $line.vm | Get-NetworkAdapter | Set-NetworkAdapter -NetworkName "NETWORK-NAME-HERE"

}

Moving into IT Architecture

For most of my IT career, I have been performing roles using elements of both IT Architecture and Engineering skills.
I am considering moving into straight Architecture for my next role, so I had a look on youtube for an overview of the IT Architecture role and desired skills to make sure I can do a good job, and I thought I'd share the video I most enjoyed watching;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khWcn5wkDdU

Check it out if you are interested in moving into Architecture, or you want to know what skills make a good Architect :D

Free Scrum Master Training

I am training to become a Scrum Master in work, and am using Quizlet to learn the Scrum Guide inside out.

I thought I'd share the sets I'm creating - I find they work best for me using the Match game :)

https://quizlet.com/bn632189/folders/scrum-master/sets

See if you can beat my times :D:D

Great starter's guide to DRS

A colleague from another department today asked me to help provide a starter's guide to DRS. DRS is such a relatively simple concept, with very little configuration/tuning to do under normal circumstances, that I realised this FOUR YEAR OLD video from VMware's youTube channel, VMwareTV, is actually still perfectly good :o 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US0bGHtiISc

My actual first VMUG :D

Just a quick post to say that I actually did attend my first VMUG last month, the London VMUG on 18th January 2018.

Was very nice to some familiar faces there from current and previous roles, and was also nice to meet new people :)

Had some very interesting technical presentations from Bitdefender and Tegile, and also some excellent presentations from members.

Maybe I'll see you at the London VMUG soon?

My first VMUG event (edit: no it wasn't)

I've just registered for my first VMUG meeting, I've been hearing great things about them for years, so hopefully I won't be blocking any tasks on April 6th and will be able to go ;]

Maybe you'd like to join your local group?
https://www.vmug.com/

Learn the vSphere 6 ROBO standard vs advanced features

I have created another Quizlet dataset to help me learn the vSphere 6 ROBO standard vs advanced features;
https://quizlet.com/145613257/scatter

Once I played it about 10 times I was ready for the multiple choice test;
https://quizlet.com/145613257/test?mult_choice=on&prompt-with=1&limit=18

The raw dataset is here;
https://quizlet.com/145613257/

vSphere Essential/Essentials Plus test

I have created another study set in Quizlet, which automatically creates quizzes to test\reinforce knowledge :)

This time it's the vSphere 6 Essentials and Essentials Plus features and the lowest version those features are in (i.e. Hypervisor is in both Ess. and Ess.+, but in the quiz "Essentials" is the right answer)

Here it is, I recommend you untick the 'written' question type;
https://quizlet.com/145566412/test

Theres a pretty cool scatter test too;
https://quizlet.com/145566412/scatter

Getting F11 for ESXi Hypervisor Install to work on a Mac

Today I found that I could not press my Volume down/F11 key on my MacBook Air and get the Hypervisor install EULA acceptance screen to 'hear me' - instead OSX was stealing the F11 function to show my desktop.

The way I got around it was to temporarily unassign F11 from "show desktop" in OSX.

To do this I went to;
System Prefs>Keyboard>Shortcuts tab

I then un-ticked "show desktop" which was assigned to F11, and this did the trick :)

vSphere Features by Edition Quiz

I have entered the vSphere Features by Edition (Standard/Enterprise/Enterprise Plus) into Quizlet and it has automatically turned this info into a multiple choice quiz;

https://quizlet.com/145329501/test?mult_choice=on&prompt-with=1&limit=29

If you want to study them, the flashcards are here;

https://quizlet.com/145329501/flashcards

With the flashcards you can start with the definition (click "start with: definiton") to turn it into a gentle test - clicking shuffle helps too ;)

VCP 6 DCV Foundation Exam Study

One of the great things about working for the company I do is that they pay for us engineers to take training course and sit exams etc.

Having let my VCP 5 expire at the end of last year due to not having time to re-certify in the 2 year window, I needed one of the £1000+ VMware courses to qualify me for VCP-status, as well as passing the exam of course!

Luckily work have foot all these bills, and I am now looking at sitting the VCP Foundation Exam at the end of this week (they have also given me some study leave!!).

So, to the meat of my post;

I have been using these #vBrownBag videos to help me prepare, and I cannot rate them highly enough!!

They also have VCP DCV (i.e non foundation) videos.

http://professionalvmware.com/vbrownbag-technology-series/vbrownbag-vmware-certified-professional-6-data-center-virtualization-vcp6-dcv-track/

I am hoping to make some flash cards to help me remember PSC RAM\CPU\Disk sizes etc, if I get round to that I'll post a link to them on this blog.

Good luck to me and anyone else taking these exams!!

Great VRA7 test lab post

Check out this great VRA7 article by my colleague Alec Dunn @legoyoda

http://adventuresinclouds.com/2016/01/17/installing-minimal-vra-7-part-1-which-version-for-the-lab/

My CloudCred Widget

As per a task on the fun CloudCredibility.com website, I am posting my Widget below :D

Querying vRO Workflows with the REST API and Multiple Conditions

A colleague has made this fantastically useful post on how to query workflows using REST, using multiple conditions - seems the function is poorly documented, but he worked out how and explains all at the link below;

 Querying vRO Workflows with the REST API and Multiple Conditions

VCP Cloud thoughts

Following on from my last blog post, I have looked into the VCPC550 Exam a bit more, and having read the blueprint instead of just glancing at it, there are a few problems with doing this exam;

1 I *will* have to brush up on vSphere ESXi and vCenter facts including upgrades etc - so why would I want to do this at the vSphere 5.5 level when its on its way out.
2  Similarly, the vCAC and vCO versions covered in the VCPC550 are presumably not the latest versions
3 VCPC550 includes vCloud Director which isn't really current technology any more!

OK, so what would happen if I went for the VCPC610 current exam instead?

1 ESX/vCenter studying would be worth it as it would be at version 6.x
2 vCAC/vCO would be at vRA/vRO levels i.e. 6.x
3 There is no need to learn vCD which is not in the blueprint

(VCPC610 Blueprint is here https://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=54066&ui=www_cert)

So what are the bad points?

One big one unfortunately;

The VCPC610 exam is being retired in only 5 weeks!!

It is being replaced with the VCP6 CMA exam (Cloud Management and Automation) - https://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=64298&ui=www_cert - which seems to have a bigger remit, therefore more to learn, quite possibly some of it outside of my useful knowledge area (as in some of the knowledge I would be forced to learn might never be useful to me).

Decisions Decisions! I shall probably go for the CMA, as one of two projects is ramping up next\this week so I'll no doubt be super busy again, and therefore unlikely to be able to do the VCPC6 exam in the next month :s

VCP DCV 5 Expiry thoughts

I thought I'd share my VCP DCV  5 Expiry thoughts.

For those who don't know, VMware introduced a policy a few years ago to ensure VMware certification holders keep up to date - the rule is that the highest exam passed needs to (within two years) be ;

A Re-newed (i.e. VCP5 DCV to VCP 6 DCV)
OR
B  Another exam of the same level is passed (i.e. VCP5 DCV to VCP Cloud 5 or 6)
OR
C A higher exam (i.e. VCA is lower than VCP which is lower than a VCAP) is passed (i.e. VCP <anything> surpassed by a VCAP <anything>

The date on the newest certificate is what counts, not the date the exam was taken.

Firstly I was lucky in that I passed my exam in Nov 2013, but didn't do something (can't remember what) that 'completed' the certification until March 2014, so instead of having a matter of weeks before my VCP expires, I actually have 4 months :D

Secondly, I am lucky at present as there appears to be an 'easy' upgrade for me - I am not a massive fan of exams that need multiple weeks studying, as my complicated life (special needs daughter\volunteering and playing in bands taking up evenings etc) means that I find it very hard to retain the large amounts of pedantic knowledge required (i.e. needing to know exact numbers for maximum configs!) - this 'easy' upgrade appears to be the relatively light VCPC550 i.e. VCP Cloud
The reason I say it is relatively easy for me, is that I've pretty much been working with all the tech, and reading about and implementing all the topics of the VCP Cloud blueprint, during my roles for the last two years.

Colleagues who have taken the exam with similar skills and experience as me have all said that it should be relatively simple :D

This, therefore, is my planned exam to get another 2 years on the VMware exam countdown-to-expiry clock ;)

To see the exam blueprint, study guide & practice exam, instruction videos and more, click on the below link :D

http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?ui=www_cert&plan=32558

Using OVFTool to upload an ISO to vCloud Director

Today I had to get a set of files into a vCloud Director vApp with no internet-facing network.
I found the easiest thing to do was to use ISO Creator (the Windows 7 version ran fine on 8.1) to create an iso file (changing the default BR type to CD) from the folder creating the files, then upload to the vCD Catalog and attach to the VM.

I got ISO Creator from here;
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/W7.htm

I hit problems trying to use the (at time of writing) latest versions of Chrome and IE on Windows 8.1 64 bit, and instead used OVFTool to do it. Here is the syntax I used;

"c:\Program Files\VMware\VMware OVF Tool\ovftool.exe" --sourceType="ISO" --vCloudTemplate="false" "D:\downloads\files.iso" "vcloud://jgriffiths:MyPassword@myVCDportal.mydomain.com?vdc=Org_vDC&org=MyAwesomeORG&media=MyFiles&catalog=MyCatalog"

Replace the things in bold as appropriate.

Quick Tip: Just created a Resource Pool in vSphere and can't see it in vRA/vCAC Reservation form?

Have you just created a Resource Pool in vSphere, so that you can assign it to a vRA/vCAC Reservation, but can't see it in vRA/vCAC's Resource Pool list?

This is because vRA's vSphere Data Collection doesn't run continually;
For Inventory look ups, it runs daily.
For State look ups, it runs every 15 minutes.
For Performance look ups, it runs daily.

To force it to run so that it can see your newly create vSphere Resource Pool;
Log in as a Fabric Administrator, then go to the Infrastructure tab.
Navigate to Compute Resources, and click Compute Resources once more.
Hover over your Computer Resource so the actions menu appears, then click Data Collection.
In the Inventory section, click Request Now.
Wait a few minutes.

You should now be able to go back and create your Reservation, this time you will see your newly created vSphere Resource Pool in the Resource Pool list.

Error "HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized" with workflow "Add an IAAS host"

Today I have been setting up extensibility for a customers vRealize Automation vRA 6.2.1 Proof Of Concept Lab with an external vRO vRealize Orchestrator 6.0.1 server.

They require the ability to run custom workflows during machine provision (via vRA blueprints, not 'ASD' workflows), so I have therefore installed the vRA plugin (auto-installed on the in-built version of vRO that comes in the vRA appliace).

I was following the guide on Page 11 of VMware's Machine Extensibility doc (here), (which seems to be slightly different to the last time I did this on vRO 5.5 and vCAC 6.1), and got the below error in the vRO log;

com.vmware.o11n.plugin.dynamicops.ServiceException: HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized : <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"/><title>401 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.</title><style type="text/css"><!--body{margin:0;font-size:.7em;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;background:#EEEEEE;}fieldset{padding:0 15px 10px 15px;} h1{font-size:2.4em;margin:0;color:#FFF;}h2{font-size:1.7em;margin:0;color:#CC0000;} h3{font-size:1.2em;margin:10px 0 0 0;color:#000000;} #header{width:96%;margin:0 0 0 0;padding:6px 2% 6px 2%;font-family:"trebuchet MS", Verdana, sans-serif;color:#FFF;background-color:#555555;}#content{margin:0 0 0 2%;position:relative;}.content-container{background:#FFF;width:96%;margin-top:8px;padding:10px;position:relative;}--></style></head><body><div id="header"><h1>Server Error</h1></div><div id="content"> <div class="content-container"><fieldset>  <h2>401 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.</h2>  <h3>You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied.</h3> </fieldset></div></div></body></html> (Workflow:Add an IaaS host / Add a VCAC host (item0)#54020)

This was very strange, as I had already gone to https://<IAAS Server Hostname> and correctly authenticated when prompted (using the username administrator@domain.local and the corresponding password).

The solution?

In the vRO workflow presentation form - do NOT type the "Authentication User Name" on Page 2a as <user>@<domain> like I did - leave out the domain name;

i.e.
"administrator@domain.local" = BAD
"domain\administrator" = BAD
"administrator" = GOOD

The "Domain for NTLM authentication" field on Page 2B would be the correct place to type the user accounts domain - i.e. in this case "domain.local".

Although I worked this out in much less time than it has taken to write this post, I thought that it would be helpful to others, as it is not very well documented in the VMware Machine Extensibility PDF or the workflow form (surely the use of REGEX filtering would have cleared this up?).

SQL Error 18456 when adding SQL DB to vCO/vRO vRealize Orchestrator inventory

Are you having trouble adding an MS SQL DB to the vCO/vRO vRealize Orchestrator inventory?
Are you getting Event 18456 in the Application log of the SQL server?
It might look like this;
Login failed for user 'administrator'. Reason: An attempt to login using SQL authentication failed. Server is configured for Windows authentication only. [CLIENT: 192.168.157.1]

This will most likely be because you need to add ";domain=<AD domain name, or SQL server hostname if using a local account>" to the of your JDBC connection URL

i.e.

Connection URL:             jdbc:jtds:sqlserver://sql01:1433/Database01;domain=sql01

For more info, see 

http://itsgettingcloudy.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/adding-sql-2012-r2-database-to-vrealize.html

Adding a SQL 2012 R2 Database to the vRealize Orchestrator Inventory with the SQL Plug In

Recently I needed to add a Microsoft SQL 2012 R2 database to my vRealize Orchestrator (v6.0.1) SQL Plugin (v1.1.4) inventory.

This was so I could start writing workflows to pull reporting data from various sources (API\REST\SQL\XML\CSV) and upload into a central reporting DB.

I had a few problems finding the correct documentation and methods, so I made this post to help me in the future!

NB There are lots of possible config issues, so I have made the below assume that;

The server is called SQL01

The vRO server can resolve SQL01 to the correct IP

SQL TCPIP communication is enabled and on port 1433 (SQL Express will not enable it by default, and a named instance probably won't use port 1433)

The server has the one default instance

The database is called Reporting

The SQL server uses windows authentication (this may work with mixed mode too)

The account to use is a local account called svc_reporting and has the correct DB access permissions

1 Log in to the Orchestrator client

2 Click on the Workflows icon in the top left

3 Expand Library, SQL, and Configuration

4 Right click on Add a Database and choose Start Workflow

5 Enter the following data;

                Name                                    ReportingDB

                Database Type                  MS SQL

                Connection URL                jdbc:jtds:sqlserver://sql01:1433/Reporting;domain=epc35sql01

                Session mode                    Shared session

                User name                          svc_reporting

                Password                            <enter the correct password>

6 Click Submit

7 Assuming the workflow completes successfully, click the Inventory icon in the top left, and expand SQL Plug-in, then Reporting DB to see the contents (there will be two trace maps even with a blank DB)

As I said there are lots of things that can stop this working, but the assumption cover most of them. The biggest stumbling block I had was the correct syntax for the URL - namley adding ";domain=" to prevent the connect attempt using SQL authentication (event viewer errors alerted me to that).

libbuild.xml error installing IAAS for vRA 6.2 - also Java 1.7 64bit link

Today I got the below error when trying to install the IAAS components for vRA 6.2.1
"Exited with code -1 (2101591)".

Looking into the log, the first error I could see was;
Done Building Project "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\vCAC\Server\Database\Liquibase.xml" (RunLiquibase target(s)) -- FAILED.

Turns out, I should have had Java 1.7 installed - not 1.8 :*)
This was documented in this KB article;
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2101591

After this, I found it quite hard to find the correct download, so I thought I'd post the below links;

Main Page: https://www.java.com/en/download/manual_java7.jsp
Actual 1.7 Update 79 64bit download: http://javadl.sun.com/webapps/download/AutoDL?BundleId=106369

Edit: Don't forget to update your JAVA_HOME environment variable as necessary!

vRealize Automation (vRA) error when configuring SSO - "Trying to access remote SSO on host and port 7444, but the returned host is and port 7444."

Today I was getting the vRA error "Trying to access remote SSO on host <FQDN> and port 7444, but the returned host is <old hostname IP> and port 7444." after re-ipping the vCSA\SSO server.

More history;

When I first deployed the vcs 5.5 appliance I told the VM to use DHCP and then ran through the default config vCenter setup.

After this I realised that the VM was on the wrong network so had picked up an IP in the wrong subnet.

At this point I re-ipped the box correctly, and confirmed that forward and reverse DNS was correct, as was the self-signed SSL certificate.

Despite this, when I tried to change a vRA 6.2 server to the SSO service on the vCSA, I got “Trying to access remote SSO on host <the correct FQDN> and port 7444, but the returned host is <the old IP!!> and port 7444.”.

Fix information;

After triple checking everything (and yes, rebooting the appliance ‘for luck’!), I eventually had to resort to google, and found this article from Dec 2014;

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2096619

In it, VMware explain that a certain SSO server config file retains the old IP address\hostname after the system is renamed.

Unfortunately, the KB article refers to vCenter SSO running on Windows, and I was using the Linux-based appliance. I therefore wrote the below Linux fix instructions.

Linux Fix;

Go to the vCSA’s console in the vSphere client.

Press Enter to Login, use the username ‘root’ and the password you set when deploying the vCSA’s OVF template (if you left this blank, the default is probably ‘vmware’).

Enter this line, replacing <correct FQDN> with the actual FQDN I.e. vcs55.domain.local;

                echo <correct FQDN> > /etc/vmware-identity/hostname.txt

Once the above has been run, type the below and ensure the output shows the correct hostname;

cat /etc/vmware-identity/hostname.txt

This should all look something like this;

Once this is done, I found that no restart of either the SSO service, or the entire vCSA, was required – I did have the vCenter service down when I performed the above however.

VDP 6 error (and possibly early versions) “VDP: Failed to attach disk” after changing SSO\vSphere password

I recently set up VDP6 in my home lab, and during the setup, chose to register with vSphere using the in-built root@vsphere.local account.

I made an incorrect assumption that this credential was only used to create a VDP system account in the SSO domain - turns out I was wrong!

This was all working fine until I SSH’d into the vCenter Appliance and was prompted to change my password, which I did.

That night, all of my backups failed with the VDP error “VDP: Failed to attach disk” (seen in the Task Failures section of the Reports tab in the VDP GUI of the vSphere web client).

I tried rebooting the VDP appliance, but after that I could no longer connect to the VDP admin page in the vSphere Web Client.

Going into the VDP config page on port 8543 showed further issues – no proxies were listed, and the Storage tab could not display Capacity Utilization.

The fix was to go into the VDP Configuration page (https://<VDP IP OR HOSTNAME>:8543/vdp-configure), then click on the settings icon to the right of VDP Appliance (on the Configration tab), and choose “vCenter registration”.

Going through the wizard and entering the new root password fixed everything with no reboots.

Despite the error about losing jobs etc, as I did not change the vCenter hostname, the jobs survived, and I was able to run them successfully after waiting for the vCenter “Reconfiguring VDP” Tasks completed.

If you regularly need to change the root password, I suppose the correct fix would be to create a vSphere\SSO account just for use by the VDP service, and re-register using this account.

I made vExpert 2015 :D

I am very honoured to have been accepted as a vExpert for 2015, my second year in a row :)

VDP 5.5 Resetting the root password

Today I had to reset the root password on a VMware Data Protection (VDP) 5.5 server.

I followed the procedure in the below article - many thanks to Vladan Seget for writing it!

It's a very simple 5 minute job once the VDP server is shut down (this method DOES need shutting down - if you don't have OS rights you can do an OS shutdown via the vCenter\vCD tools).

If writing a CRQ for this, bear in mind that the server will take a while to boot up and start its services as usual, and don't forget to test!

http://www.vladan.fr/how-to-reset-root-password-in-vdp/

First day with a Hipstreet W7

Picked up a Hipstreet W7 tablet today with Windows 8.1 (full x86 Windows, not RT) and intend on installing Windows 10 Technical Preview.

For those of you who don't know these, they have great pros and great cons!

Pros (for me)

• PRICE!! Only £49 at time if writing from Carphone Warehouse in the UK with no contracts or anything involving further payment. You can even use the stock checker on their website to see if your local branch has one in stock
• Portability - fits in every coat and jacket I have, my suit trouser pockets, and just about my jeans front pocket! Its not really that much bigger than my wife's iPhone 6 plus
• "Full" Windows so can run all of the VMware Management apps\browser plug-ins, as well as VMware University\My Learn Flash courses
• Relatively decent Atom processor - a Quad Core Intel Atom Z3735G
• Bluetooth on-board so you can add a keyboard and mouse wirelessly
• HDMI out (think its mini rather than micro) so you can plug in a monitor
• USB-to-go cable IN THE BOX :) This is so you can plug in USB devices (NOTE as far as I know you cannot use USB devices and charge it at the same time, as the only usb slot is also the charging socket. Maybe a special\hacked cable would allow this?)
• Micro SD card slot to expand storage (I have heard a max of 32GB is supported)
• Office 365 personal 1 year subscription (worth more than the £49 purchase price, especially as I have heard that Office 365 subscription will soon be eligible for unlimited Onedrive storage - and this will apparently not be down graded or cancelled when the 1 year Office Subscription expires)
• Screen protector applied "out of the box"

Cons (for me)

• Only 1GB RAM - a pretty big deal for your average user, but as a seasoned professional used to tuning the RAM of VMs for Enterprises, I think I can work within this limitation
• Only 16GB internal storage - this is another fairly large issue, especially as the C: drive is only 9GB with about 5GB free (the missing 7GB is used by the recovery partition, which can me moved onto a cheap USB drive)
• Screen - Size - I have excellent eyesight and of course a bigger screen would mean less portability, so I can tolerate this. The real world issue is that it is hard to touch the right point on the screen 100% of the time, especially in Desktop mode, but you could of course make things bigger (i.e. raising the DPI) and the Modern UI Apps are much less of a problem due to them being designed for touch screen devices.
• Screen - Quality - I have saved the worst until last! This is probably the biggest thing I have struggled with. The graphics are not pin sharp at all and are actually slightly fuzzy. I have taken the first layer off the screen protector (the one labelled "Step 2, peel off this layer"), and am considering peeling off layer 1 somehow but the graphics aberrations actually look like a different issue that I am going to investigate and report back on

STOP PRESS

I have discovered the issue with the W7 screen being blurry\fuzzy and will report the fix in the next blog post!

Summary - flawed but worth the money if you can live with the cons.

Removing the vRA\vCAC Guest Agent

Short intro
This blog post gives you the simple steps to quickly uninstall the vRealize Automation (aka vRA aka vCloud Automation Center aka vCAC) Agent

Longwinded Intro
Whilst studying for my VTSP Management Automation exam, I began to prepare a VM template to use for vRealize Application Services aka vRAS formerly known as vCloud Application Director aka vCAD (wow confusing!).

This involves preparing an OS for use as a vRAS template by installing the Bootstrap Agent files.

According to Abhilash HB's excellent blog article here, I made noob error no 1 - I used a template that already had the vCAC/vRA agent installed.

NB These instructions will work with vRA\vCAC 6.1, folder\service names may be different for different versions

Instructions
Here are the steps to uninstall it;

From a command prompt on the machine which has the agent installed, type;
net stop vcacguestagentservice
then
sc delete vcacguestagentservice

If you do not want to install the vRAS\vCAD agent after this, then you can use the below command to remove the folder;
rmdir c:\vrmguestagent /s /q

Thats it!

vSphere 5.5 Web Client with Oracle Enterprise Linux 7

Just installed Oracle Enterprise Linux on an old laptop for a laugh (yes, I am a true geek!), and realised the vSphere 5.5 web client needs Flash 11.5 installed, and the last version of Flash that Adobe say they will make for Linux is 11.2 :o

I have decided the try the web client through Chrome, which I have tried to install before and found it to be a major headache (getting it installed), but this time round I found an EXCELLENT how-to which got Chrome installed for me in minutes (yes the article is for OEL 6.2, but it worked fine for me on OEL 7).

http://www.redstonecontentsolutions.com/technical-blog/install-google-chrome-on-oracle-enterprise-linux62

I'll report back if I have any issues! Plan B and C are probably using the VCMA, or maybe even trying the C+ client under WINE?

Installing VCD 5.5 in a VMware Workstation 10 lab Part 2

This is intended to be a VERY quick and dirty multi-part guide to installing VCD 5.5 in a VMware Workstation 10 lab.

It is NOT intended to be a complete step by step guide, so it's mainly for experienced professionals, BUT if you are starting out with this stuff, I feel you would learn more by following this guide and searching for, or working out yourself, the bits you don't know (rather than following a prescriptive step by step guide that a 12 year could follow)

No offence 12 year olds!

So in Part 1 (http://itsgettingcloudy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/installing-vcd-55-in-vmware-workstation.html) I set up a VMWare Workstation 10 lab, installed a Windows Domain Controller\DNS server, and deployed the vCenter Server Appliance.

Now on with the show!

ESXi SERVER SETUP
I created a new Workstation VM with 18GB RAM, a 6GB disk, and the OS type ESXi Server.
After the VM was created, I edited the settings to add a second disk of 200GB (thin deployed), and connected the NIC to vmNet8.
As part of the OS setup, I used the hostname esx01.domain.local, IP 192.168.89.11, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, DNS Server 192.168.89.20, and a default gateway of 192.168.89.2
Instructions on the above can be found here;
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2034803

ESXi SERVER CONFIG
Once the server was deployed, it was necessary to do each of these things;
Log in to the vCenter Server web client at https://192.168.89.10:9443
Create a Datacenter
Create a new Cluster called Cluster01.
Enable DRS, and accept all defaults.
Add esxi01 to the Cluster.
Configure esxi01 to use the same NTP server as your appliance (I used 0.uk.pool.ntp.org)
Add a datastore using the 200GB disk and VMFS5
Unlike in the 'old' days, ESXi will automatically create a usable virtual networking config for you 'out of the box'
If you don't know how to do any of the above, working out how will definitely teach you something about ESXi\vSphere\vCenter Server!!

Now you can deploy the vCD appliance;

VCD APPLIANCE DEPLOYMENT
To deploy the VCD appliance, it was necessary to do each of these things;
Log in to the vCenter Server web client at https://192.168.89.10:9443
Select host esxi01
From "Actions", choose "Deploy OVF Template"
Browse to the "vCloud Director VA OP" OVF (I found it necessary to change the file type from OVF to OVA or All Files)
Accept the EULA
Change the VM name from "vCloud Director" to "vcd01"
Select my datacenter
Select my 200GB datastore (changing disk type to thin provisioned)
Set root and guest passwords
Expand the networking settings and enter;
Default Gateway 192.168.89.2
DNS Server 192.168.89.20
Network 1 IP 192.168.89.40
Network 1 subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Network 2 IP 192.168.89.41
Network 2 subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Tick Power on after deployment
Click Finish.
While the OVF was deploying, I kicked off deploying the vShield appliance;

VSHIELD APPLIANCE DEPLOYMENT
To deploy the vShield appliance, it was necessary to do each of these things;
Open the "full fat" Windows vSphere client (I was getting validation errors when trying to deploy from the web client using chrome)
Select host esxi01
From "Actions", choose "Deploy OVF Template"
Browse to the "vShield Manager" OVF (I found it necessary to change the file type from OVF to OVA or All Files)
Accept the EULA
Change the VM name from "vShield Manager" to "vshield01"
Select my datacenter
Select my 200GB datastore (changing disk type to thin provisioned)
Set CLI admin and privilege mode passwords
Tick Power on after deployment
Click Finish.
Whilst that was deploying, I moved on to configuring vCD;

CONFIGURING VCD PART1
To configure VCD, it was necessary to do these steps;
Open a browser and go https:<IP you used for the VCD VM's network 1 i.e. 192.168.89.40>
Go through the wizard;
License Agreement - accept this
License Key - you should have got a trial license key from vmware.com when downloading the software
Admin user and contact info - make a note of the administrator username and password you set use here
System name and ID - I used the hostname (vcd01) and default ID
Click Finish
Before running through the next part of the VCD config, we need VCNS\vShield working with vCenter so lets do that next

CONFIGURING VCNS
To configure VCNS, it was necessary to do these steps;
Change the IP from DHCP assigned, to the IP you created a DNS record for (vshield01) in part 1.
To do this, follow my quick guide here: http://itsgettingcloudy.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/re-ip-vcns-aka-vshield-manager.html
Open a browser and go https:<IP you used for the vShield01 VM i.e. 192.168.89.45>
Username will be admin password will be default
You will be at the "Settings & Reports - Configuration" page
Click EDIT on the vCenter Server line.
Enter the vCenter Server IP and credentials then OK
Click EDIT on the NTP Server line
Enter the same NTP server as you used on your vCenter appliance (I used 0.uk.pool.ntp.org)
Reboot the VCNS manager from the vSphere client by choosing Restart Guest



CONFIGURING VCD PART2
Open a browser and go https:<IP you used for the VCD VM's network 1 i.e. 192.168.89.40>
Next, attach a vCenter by doing the below;
Go to https://192.168.89.40/cloud and log in with the administrator username and password you have set up
Click "Attach a vCenter"
Enter the relevant details then go on to the next tab
Enter the VCNS server details, note that the admin password is not the one you type into the OVF deployment wizard, but is still 'default' unless you have changed it in the vShield web console
Click Finish


Congratulations, you now have a functioning vCloud Director lab, further config will be necessary depending on what you want to use it for.

Watch out for more guides to follow, helping you set up the lab for various purposes.

Re-ip VCNS aka vShield Manager

After deploying the vShield Manager, it will use DHCP by default.
To change this, perform the below simple steps;

1. Connect to the VM's console with the vSphere client.
2. Login as admin and default (or the password for the admin CLI account that you entered when deploying the OVF) 
3. Type "enable" and press return.
4. Re-enter the password.
5. Type "setup" and press return.
6. Follow the prompts entering the new info.

A reboot is not necessary :)

Installing VCD 5.5 in a VMware Workstation 10 lab Part 1

This is intended to be a VERY quick and dirty multi-part guide to installing VCD 5.5 in a VMware Workstation 10 lab.

It is NOT intended to be a step by step guide, so it's mainly for experienced professionals, BUT if you are starting out with this stuff, I feel you would learn more by following this guide and searching for, or working out yourself, the bits you don't know, rather than following a prescriptive step by step guide that a 12 year could follow (no offence 12 year olds!).

LAB SETUP
Things I have in my one-machine lab - you might be able to get away with less;
32GB RAM
500GB free space
VMWare Workstation (I have 10 but 9 or better should be ok)
One custom network (see NETWORK SETUP below)

SOFTWARE REQUIRED
As well as VMWare Workstation 10, you will need the following software - ALL of it is available in free trial form from the microsoft.com or vmware.com;
Windows Server 2008\2012
VMWare ESXi 5.1\5.5 (comes with the vSphere Trial)
VMWare vCenter Server 5.1\5.5 (comes with the vSphere Trial)
VMware vCloud Director 5.5 (comes with the vCloud Director Trial)
VMware vShield Manager 5.5 (comes with the vCloud Director Trial)

NETWORK SETUP
The Workstation VMs are all joined to a custom network, vmNet8, which I have set to use NAT (for connecting out to the real world - this is important to provide centralised time for your VMs via NTP), as well as DHCP.
My subnet IP is 192.168.89.0 with a mask of 255.255.255.0, it may make things easier for you if you use these values.

VMWARE WORKSTATION SETUP
Running in VMWare Workstation I have the following VMs;
One ESX 5.5i server with 18GB RAM, a 6GB install disk and a 200GB datastore disk
One vCenter Server 5.1 Appliance (4GB RAM default)
One Windows 2003 Server domain controller (512MB RAM)

DOMAIN CONTROLLER SETUP
I created a VM with 512MB RAM, 30GB disk space (suggest 768MB RAM with 40gb disk space (thin provisioned) for Windows 2008 and 2012) and 1 vCPU, connected to vmNet8
After a normal install of Windows Server, I set the server's IP as 192.168.89.20 (mask 255.255.255.0), Primary DNS as 192.168.89.20, and the gateway as 192.168.89.2 (the VMware workstation NAT router for this subnet).
I renamed the server to dc01, rebooted, then ran DCPROMO, using the domain name "domain.local", and all the defaults.
After another reboot, I ran dnsmgmt.msc and created host records for;
vcs01(.domain.local) at 192.168.89.10
esxi01(.domain.local) at 192.168.89.11
vcd01(.domain.local) at 192.168.89.40
vcd01cp(.domain.local) at 192.168.89.41
vshield01(.domain.local) at 192.168.89.45

Finally I installed VMWare tools.

VCENTER SERVER APPLIANCE SETUP
I deployed the appliance into VMWare Workstation, using a thin provisioned  disk.
Once it was deployed, I edited the VM's setting to use network VMNET8, then powered it on and connected to it's "console" to see the DHCP IP it had picked up.
I then went to https://192.168.89.<DHCP-assigned-IP>:5480 from my laptop's browser and set up the installation. Further details on that part can be found here;
https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.install.doc%2FGUID-25FCBA87-5D2F-4CB6-85D7-88899B4AC174.html
I used the hostname vcs01(.domain.local), and IP 192.168.89.10 (mask 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.89.2). I also used (important!) NTP Time Server of 0.uk.pool.ntp.org as I am in the UK.

In the next part of these instructions, I shall continue by installing and configuring ESXi Server.

I made vExpert 2014!!

Another quick post to say that I am very proud to have been accepted into the vExpert family this year :)

http://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2014/10/vexpert-2014-q3-announcement.html

The future of Reporting As A Service for Virtual Data Centers?

Just a quick post to spread the word about my company's new Reporting As A Service offering for Virtual Data Centers.

If its the kind of thing you would be interested in apply now for our Beta programme!

Some marketing blurb;
SONAR enables you to easily generate a rapid infrastructure analysis "Health Check" with actionable results on-demand, but without the traditional overhead of purchasing, implementing and maintaining complex on-premise tools. 

Fast: Rapid time to value with typical report turnaround in under 30 minutes, ensuring that your virtual infrastructure is always in good shape.

Simple: The benefits of Reporting-as-a-Service (RaaS) mean that there is no heavy infrastructure to manage and maintain, just a lightweight agent to download. 

Targeted: With just a few clicks SONAR shows you where operational hazards truly exist and provides clear recommendations on how to address them.

Click here for more info :)

http://xvirt.it/37jg

Undelete VCO workflows

Today I accidentally deleted a VCO workflow. Luckily the recovery was nice and simple, although in my panicked state I seemed to need to try a few searches and have to patience to read through a PDF, so I thought I'd blog this simple procedure;

Restore Deleted Workflows
You can restore workflows that have been deleted from the workflow library.
Procedure
1 From the drop-down menu in the Orchestrator client, select Run or Design.
2 Click the Workflows view.
3 Navigate to the workflow folder in which you want to restore deleted workflows.
4 Right-click the folder and select Restore deleted workflows.
5 Select the workflow or workflows that you want to restore and click Restore.
The restored workflows appear in the selected folder.

That's all you need to do :)

Getting this in VCO? TypeError: Cannot call method "push" of null

I have recently joined one of the UK's best consultancies as a Senior Consultant, initially specialising in VMware vCenter Orchestrator (vCO) and VMware vCloud Automation Center (VCAC).

Today whilst working on some VCO workflows I kept getting the below error despite setting up the inputs correctly and binding them;

TypeError: Cannot call method "push" of null

This was happening when I had an input atttibute (lets say it was "jimsarray") defined as an array/string, and was using the javscript code;

jimsarray.push("ArrayEntry1")

The attribute was correctly bound in the data binder, but it appears that due to the order in which I created things, the starting value for "jimsarray" was "Not Set" i.e. Null - hence the error

The trick was to go into visual binding, and double click on any array/string in “IN attribute”. Then click on the value “not set”, then click Accept then OK. You will now see the value is "Array", and the error will be gone!

Using Hyper-V on Server 2012 R2 under VMWare Workstation 9

I am still running VMWare Workstation 9, as I got a license to use it when I passed my VCP 510 exam, and haven't yet found anything it cant do.

I recently thought I might do at least one Windows Server 2012 exam, and as I specialise in VMWare Virtualisation, I thought I'd have a look at the 70-410 exam which includes a piece on Hyper-V.

The Hyper V role doesn’t want to play nicely on my laptop with VMWare Workstation installed, so I thought I would create a Windows Server 2012 R2 VM and try to get HyperV working on that.

I soon found that trying to install the HyperV role on a Windows Server 2012 VM, without the below tweaks performed, will provoke the error "Hyper-V cannot be installed: A hypervisor is already running."

To get around this, right click on the VM in Workstation, and choose settings. Select Processers then select;

"Virtualise Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI"

Also, set the Virtualisation Engine preferred mode to "Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI".

Click OK.

Finally, edit the vmx file in notepad (if you don’t know about VMX files, right click on the VM in workstation and choose settings, then click the Options tab and select Advanced. Highlight and copy the value in the "File Locations: Configuration" field, then hold the windows key and press r to bring up the Run dialog. Type notepad, then press space and insert the copied path, then press return).

Copy and paste the below line to a new line of its own, then save and close notepad.

hypervisor.cpuid.v0 = "FALSE"

*If you copy and paste the above, ensure the speech marks around the word FALSE are straight and not curved*

You can now power on the VM, and go to Server Manager to click "Add Roles and features". Tick the box next to Hyper-V, then click Next until you can click Install.

Quick VM report - IPs and (vcloud vapp or VM folder)

Its been a while since I blogged anything, so even though this isn't much to write home about, the end of my project and therefore the need for a new job has inspired me to blog this :)

Today I needed to get a list of all VMs in a VDC (which translates to vsphere as a resource group).

The resource group name is hard-coded below as CHANGME, so you need to update this ;)

ipreport.ps1 begins;

#Connect to vcenter
connect-viserver

#create a report shell
$table = @()

#GetVM Name and IP address
get-resourcepool CHANGME | get-vm | foreach {

#Create row
$vminfo = "" | select-object Name,IPAddress,vapp
#Populate row's column with VM name
$vminfo.name = $_.name
#Populate row's column with IP address
$vminfo.IPAddress = $_.guest.extensiondata.IPAddress
#Populate row's column with vapp name
$vminfo.vapp = $_.folder
#Commit row to the report
$table += $vminfo
}

#Pipe report through a sort command, and output to HTML for easy reading
$table | sort-object -property IPaddress | convertto-html -title "IPs for VMs" > C:\scripts\ips.html

Simple vCloud Director healthtest with Powershell

There is ALWAYS a better way to write Powershell, but my definition of success for this task was "quick to write", and "does the job"!

Feel free to amend to your own requirements - and don't forget to change the hostnames ;)

#Setup http client

$webClient = new-object System.Net.WebClient

$webClient.Headers.Add("user-agent", "PowerShell Script")

#Get content of VCD health page

$cell1health = $webClient.DownloadString("https://cloudcell01/cloud/server_status")

$cell2health = $webClient.DownloadString("https://cloudcell02/cloud/server_status")

#Guilty unless proven innocent!

$cell1ActionRequired = "Yes"

$cell2ActionRequired = "Yes"

#Determine is server is healthy

if ($cell1health -eq "Service is up.") {$cell1actionrequired = "No"}

if ($cell2health -eq "Service is up.") {$cell2actionrequired = "No"}

#Write results to screen

write-host "Cell1 action required: " $cell1ActionRequired

write-host "Cell2 action required: " $cell2ActionRequired

Passed my VCA Cloud exam today

Passed my VCA-Cloud exam today - VMWare Certified Associate-Cloud - I'd recommend it for those working in the cloud arena, as a pre-cursor to the VCP-Cloud obviously! No expensive VMWare course necessary (unlike the VCP) - glad I already have my VCP!

http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=41165&ui=www_cert

Increase your free dropbox from 2GB to 5GB :>

This 'trick' is about a year old, but as I use dropbox extensively to 'carry around' IT PDFs, as well as a library of powershell scripts I've written in the form of snippets, I found this tip to be very useful!

Enable photo syncing on the iphone dropbox app, and as you upload your photos and breach your 2GB limit, you are given a new permanent limit, free of charge, of 2.5GB. Keep going all the way up to 5GB, then if you want to, stop using it and delete the photos!

I already use the icloud control panel to sync my photostream with my windows PC, so I don't need this dropbox feature.

If you want to force the limit more quickly, apparently you can create and sync a video instead.

One caveat - make sure you have the space free on your phone first - filling it up can be a pain!

Getting around firewalls with SSH tunnels

Another interesting problem today - a new subnet was delivered to us vCloud guys (finally), but port 1688, necessary to activate eagerly-awaited Windows VMs in that new subnet with the KMS server, wasn't opened as requested.

Rather than wait until the weekend, or put the VMs into another subnet temporarily, I chose to use an SSH tunnel to a linux server in one of our other vCloud subnets (one which I knew had access to the KMS server on port 1688).

These are the instructions I wrote quickly so that I could palm off the work (after testing it of course!) - IPs and hostname changed to <value>;

RDP into the VM as your adm account.

On activation prompt, Click ask me later, then OK

Run <hostname>\c$\windows\putty.exe

Type <linux server> then on the left under connections expand SSH then click tunnels

Source port 1688

Dest port <kms server>:1688

Leave other settings, click Add then open

(The above instructions create the SSH tunnel so that local port 1688 goes through the Linux server to get the KMS server)

 

Leave this running then open a command prompt

Copy and paste in this line;

Slmgr /skms localhost:1688 & Slmgr /ato & shutdown /f /r /t 15

(The above line changes the KMS server to use, use's it to activate the PC, then reboots it)

Laptops that will take 32GB of RAM

I have been thinking lately that it might be nice to have a laptop with 32GB of RAM, as most of the VMWare stuff that I'm touching these days needs the host to have more than 16GB (VC Ops and vcloud director for example). I have a home lab but I it would cost MORE to buy 4x8GB sticks for that than it would to buy 4x8GB sticks for a laptop (I am conveniently ignoring the purchase price of the laptop of course!).

The below is a list of laptops that have 4 memory slots, and in most cases, Quad Core CPUs (some are Core 2, most are i7 - I believe only the i7s support 8GB per channel. I've left the Core 2s in as they are a lot older therefore cheaper and 16GB could suit some people).

I'll try to keep it up to date, at least until I finally purchase one - I haven't found a list as comprehensive as this one.

**Good tip for finding number of slots**
Google one of the below;
i7 "4 sockets" site:memorystock.com
i7 "slots: 4" site:crucial.com

----------------------LIST BEGINS--------------


**NOTE BEST**

1. Some of these laptops are available with different CPU types - to take 32GB of RAM it HAS to be a QUAD CORE i7 (ONLY the i7 was\IS available as a quad core, BUT SOME i7 chips are DUAL core - even if a dual core laptop has 4 slots, only two will work and i7s can only take 8GB per channel. Quad core i7s usually have QM in the name). 
2. I am not responsible for any mistakes on the list below. This is intended as a research guide only, you should confirm with another source before purchasing anything.

Lenovo Thinkpad W510 - 1st gen i7. 15"
Lenovo Thinkpad W520 - 2nd gen i7. 15"
Lenovo Thinkpad W530 - 3rd gen i7. 15"
Lenovo Thinkpad W701 - 1st gen i7. 17"!
Lenovo Thinkpad W701ds - 1st gen i7. 17"!

Dell Precision M4600
Dell Precision M4700
Dell Precision M6500
Dell Precision M6600
Dell Precision M6700
Dell XPS 17 L701x

Alienware M17x
Alienware M18x

Asus G73SW (not JW) apparently takes 8GB per slot and has 4 slots.....
Asus G74SX
Asus G75VW
Asus G75VX

MSI GT60
MSI GT70

HP Elitebook
8540w and 8540p (i7 v1)
8560w (and 8560p?)
8570w (and 8570p?)
8760w(and 8760p?)

Acer Aspire 8943G (18.4 inch screen!!!!)

Fixing SSL Error 61 with Linux ICA Client

Banged my head against the way for a fair time with this error on my CENTOS (could have been RHEL or Fedora) laptop - was simple in the end!

Error

“you have chosen not to trust “verisign class 3 public primary certification authority – G5” SSL error 61

Went to http://www.Symantec.com/page.jsp?id=roots

Scrolled down to “verisign class 3 public primary certification authority – G5”

Right clicked on download now (.pem file)– saved to /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts

This fixed it :>

Duplicate SIDs with deployed images \ Sysprep error

Had a quick but interesting issue this week with sysprep in our vCloud environment.

A new windows customized image had been created by one of the engineers, by deploying the standard Windows image and adding some basic software. He then created an image of this by adding it to the ‘Catalog’.

This VM was deployed several times, and the developers started using their VMs. They were getting weird issues though, which  (google?) led them to suspect that all the VMs in the vApp had the same computer SID.

I checked with psgetsid (http://live.sysinternals.com/psgetsid) and they were right!

“No problem” I thought, “the image was probably added to the Catalog as an exact backup, instead of a deployable image. I’ll just create a new SID”.

I powered off the VM in the vCloud console and ticked “Change SID” under Guest Customisation, then chose “Power on and force recustomisation”.

However this didn’t reset the SID!

Next I tried using ‘good old’ sysprep (newsid.exe is now very frowned-upon and not available from Microsoft) selecting “generalise” – and got the below error;

“A fatal error occurred while trying to sysprep the machine”

Checking the log file \windows\system32\sysprep\panther\setuperr.txt showed up an interesting message;

“Failure occurred while executing c:\windows\system32\slc.dll,SLRearmWindows”

This made me think that maybe the maximum number of rearms (which I knew was 3) had been reached?

I leveraged a wider knowledge base (i.e. googled) to find out how to determine the rearm value – this led me to run “slmgr.vbs –dlv”, and the output “rearms remaining = 0”.

After that I realised that I needed to reset the rearm value before sysprep (or vCloud’s “change sid” mechanism”) would work – google offered these instructions;

• Change this registry key’s value to 7;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\Status\SysprepStatus\GeneralizationState\

• Start -> Run : msdtc -uninstall (wait few seconds)
• Start -> Run : msdtc -install (wait few seconds)
• Restart the machine

This fixed it!

Lesson – unless you have just installed Windows ‘fresh’, I recommend running “slmgr.vbs –dlv” before imaging a windows VM, and ensuring the remaining arm value is not 0. If it is, the deployed VMs will have the same SID!

IF statement and error handling with Get-winevent

Today I had to come up with a way of looking for a certain eventID in the event logs of our VDI estate, using get-winevent.

I had a few challenges which I managed to work around;

 

Challenge 1

When a given PC had multiple results, referencing the first record as $logonevents[0] was fine.

When a given PC had only one result, referencing the first (only) record as $logonevents[0] caused an error, as it wanted to be referenced as $logonevents.

 

Short of forcing the datatype into an array (which I couldn’t work out how to do and wasn’t sure would do the trick), I used an IF statement to check if $logonevents[0] existed, and use $logonevents if it didn’t;

if ($logonevents.timecreated) {$info.lastlogin = $logonevents.timecreated} else {$info.lastlogin = $logonevents[0].timecreated}

 

Challenge 2

My script didn’t provide a value for “last logon event” if there wasn’t one to find, but of course this value was also blank if the query failed (i.e. the VM was off or not working correctly).

I wanted a way to set the result to “None found” if the error was “Get-WinEvent : No events were found that match the specified selection criteria.” – I had 90% of the thinking for this but needed my ex-colleague and powershell guru Stephen Spike to force me to look at it a bit harder. The resulting code was;

 

#resets $error variable to nothing

$error.clear()

#looks for event

$logonevents = Get-WinEvent -computername $hostname -FilterHashtable @{logname="system"; id="7001"; providername="microsoft-windows-winlogon"}

#sets result to “None found” if appropriate

if ("$Error[0]".Contains("No events were found")) {$info.lastlogin = "No logon events found"}