How to install Centmin Mod with Let’s Encrypt and CloudFlare

Tools
2 Comments

I run several web servers for the many sites I own, like MikeTabor.com or for the sites I help run, such as LexVMUG.com. In the past these servers have always ran a traditional LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP) either installed manually or through WHM/cPanel.

For my last couple projects I’ve been using Centmin Mod instead. Centmin Mod has several benefits, the first being it installs a LEMP stack (Linux, NGINX, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP), then optimizes the installs, and secures the server. Even on the smallest of servers the LEMP stack has been amazing and FAST!

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Using PowerShell to Unblock multiple files

Tools
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powershell blocked file

If you’ve ever downloaded a PowerShell script from the internet and tried running it you’ve probably seen the warning message “Run only scripts that you trust. While scripts from the internet can be useful, this script can potentially harm your computer.”

In my case I noticed the following tweet from Alan Renouf about the vCheck dev branch.

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Fixing, This host currently has no management network redundancy

VMware
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host no management network redundancy

I recently redid my VMware home lab environment and after enabling HA the warning message “This host currently has no management network redundancy” started displaying on each of my ESXi hosts.

This warning happens because in a HA cluster there is a requirement for the management network to have redundant NICs, but in my case I’m using Intel NUCs which only have a single NIC and since this is only a lab I don’t care to see the warning so lets disable it.

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Be social! How to start a blog

Other
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This year marked my first year of going to VMworld and before I left I asked several people and the Twitter’s on advice and overwhelmingly the advice was wear comfortable shoes and to be social and talk with as many people as you can. I can’t tell you just how much those two pieces of advice are really worth.

While I was at VMworld several people told me being social has helped them immensely. From getting help when problems arise to landing their new dream job and everything in between. I even talked to a few people that was there but wasn’t really involved in the community and wanted to know how to get started.

For me blogging has been one of the better things I’ve done as it’s not only helped me learn new things, but also help teach others. It’s something I enjoy, thought don’t do as often as I like, and figured I’d start there – how to start a blog.

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How to migrate a VMware virtual machine to AWS

AWS
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Migrate VMware VM's to AWS

At work we’ve been toying with the idea of moving some of our VMware workload off to AWS and I’ve been tasked with migrating a couple VMware virtual machines to AWS as a proof of concept for the time being.

In this post I’ll show how I setup the AWS Connector and did the migration from VMware to AWS using the AWS Server Migration Service.

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How to Add Login Banner to vSphere Web Client

VMware
2 Comments

If you have the pleasure or meeting certain audits or security compliance then having a login banner message on your systems is a pretty common requirement. Sometime ago I detailed how to add a login banner message to ESXi hosts, below I’ll show how easy it is to do the same with your VMware vSphere web client or HTML5 client using vSphere 6.0 Update 2 or better.

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How to install Backblaze on Synology NAS

Synology
38 Comments

In case you’ve missed it, Crashplan announced yesterday that they are no longer offering a family backup plan but instead focusing on business plans. Immediately people started asking me on twitter for alternatives.

Well one option would be to upgrade to the more expensive Crashplan business plan or another option would be to check out Backblaze!

In this post I’ll be showing you just how easy it is to use Backblaze on your Synology Diskstation NAS – all with native Synology apps. No need to worry about upgrades breaking your backups or 3rd party solutions!

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How to update VMware ESXi 6.5 to 6.5 Update 1

VMware
4 Comments

With the release of VMware vCenter 6.5 Update 1 also comes VMware ESXi 6.5 Update 1 and just like vCenter there are a number of changes, updates, and fixes for ESXi as well in 6.5 Update 1 – you can see the release notes here.

Yesterday I made a post on how to upgrade VMware VCSA 6.5 to 6.5 Update 1. Below I’ll show you three ways to upgrade your ESXi hosts to 6.5 Update 1.

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Update vCenter Server Appliance from 6.5 to 6.5 Update 1

VMware
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VMware just released VMware vCenter 6.5 Update 1 just last month, in case you’ve missed it check out the release notes as there are a lot of fixes, improvements and additions.

In this post we’ll see just how easy it is to update the VMware VCSA. Before you do any VMware update I’d highly recommend checking out the VMware Interoperability Matrices to check compatibility of other VMware products. Once you’ve done that, lets begin!

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