How to easily add an ESXi SSH login message banner

VMware
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ESXi issues message

Preparing for some upcoming audits, I noticed one of the checkpoints was to ensure each ESXi host was configured with a warning banner stating the machine is being monitored and audited when someone logs into the ESXi host via SSH. This type of message is something you see on most any company or government computer before you login.

There are two message types that can be used to achieve this, the first being login banner (/etc/issue) and MOTD (/etc/motd). The difference between the two are where they are shown. The login banner is shown between the username and password inputs during login, while the MOTD is displayed after a user has successfully logged into SSH.

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How to install and configure vRealize Operations Manager 6.0.1

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VMware vRealize Operations Manager

vRealize Operations Manager is the successor of vCenter Operation Manager which consists of much more then a simple name change, but several changes in the product over all. Just one of the new changes is that vRealize Operation Manager can now be deployed as a single virtual appliance, or on a Windows or Linux machine.

This post we’ll walk through installing and configuring vRealize Operations Manager 6.0.1 step by step.

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VMware ESXi 6.0 CBT bug fix released

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VMware

You may remember ESXi 4.x-5.x had a CBT bug, as mentioned here, that could potentially cause your backups to be pretty useless. Well it seems ESXi 6.0 isn’t without it’s own CBT bug which could cause the following to possibly occur:

  • Backing up a VM with CBT enabled fails.
  • Powering on virtual machines fails.
  • Expanding the size of a virtual disk fails.
  • Taking VM quiesced snapshots fails.

Prior to the fix, the workaround was to disable CBT. Thankfully VMware has released a fix for the ESXi 6.0 CBT bug and it’s recommended that anyone who uses CBT apply this patch regardless if it was a clean install of VMware ESXi 6.0 or an upgrade to ESXi 6.0.

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Easy ESXi 6.0 upgrade via command line

VMware
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VMware has released ESXi 6.0 back in March and I recently posted a guide on how to upgrade your vCenter Server Appliance from 5.x to 6.0 – Now we’re going to look at two ways to upgrade a VMware ESXi 5.x host to ESXi 6.0 via command line.

The first method will show you how to have each ESXi host download the update directly from VMware and then upgrade itself while the second method shows how to download the update, place it on a datastore accessible to the host, then upgrade the host.

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VMware Certified Professional 6 (VCP6-DCV) now available

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VMware VCP DCV

VMware has just recently announced that the VMware Certified Professional 6 (VCP6-DCV) is now available. The new VCP6 exam is similar to the others in the past whereas the VCP6 aims to validate your ability to deploy, configure, administer and scale a vSphere virtualized data center, including administering and troubleshooting virtualization technologies such as:

  • vSphere HA and DRS Clusters
  • Storage virtualization using VMFS
  • Storage DRS and Storage I/O Control
  • Network virtualization using vSphere standard and distributed switches and Network I/O Control
  • vSphere management using vCenter Server and vRealize Operations Manager Standard
  • Virtual Machines

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How to upgrade vCenter Server Appliance from 5.x to 6.0

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VMware vSphere 6.0 has finally been released as GA on March 12th and with it out of beta I hope to post several “how-to” posts, this being the first on how to upgrade your vCenter Server Appliance from 5.1/5.5 to vCSA 6.0. So lets get started…

Prerequisites:

  • vCSA 6.0 ISO downloaded and mounted or burned to disc.
  • Installed Client Integration Plugin (located in the vcsa folder on the ISO).

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VMware extends VCP550D exam deadline again, provides VCP6 discount

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VMware Education

VMware has just announced good news for many VCP’s and procrastinators alike by extending the VMware VCP550D Delta Exam from March 10, 2015 to May 8, 2015!

It seems VMware had some issues with the myLean system over this last weekend as well as some partners of VMware expressed concern that the initial deadline (Nov 30, 2014) and first extension (March 10, 2015) was not enough notice and asked for another extension so they (the partners) could schedule time to have their VCP’s re-certified.

If you haven’t taken the VCP550D exam yet, I’m compiled a list of topics to study in my VMware delta exam passed post.

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