Upgrade vSphere Distributed Switch
As you are aware of a Distributed Switch is a virtual switch structure that is centrally managed and distributed through vCenter Server. It offers easier configuration, some interesting features and…
VMware Cloud Foundation – Flexible BOM Upgrade: update ESXi, NSX or vCenter Server through an async patch
In this blog we will guide you through the process of implementig a flexible BOM Upgrade, as VMware/Broadcom likes to call it. Actually it is the process of installing one…
VCF 5.2.1 – Upgrade vSAN Disk Format Using vSphere Client or RVC
On a regular basis, the ESXi hypervisors in your environment are updated. When updating to major updates (e.g. ESXi 8.0U3), you have the option to update your vSAN On-Disk Format…
Update VMware Cloud Director
Even though I have performed these steps numerous times, the VMware Cloud Director update has never been written down, at least not by me in this blog. Despite there are…
Async Patches implementation with SDDC Manager 5.2.1.0
This blog post shows the steps required to implement an async patch with SDDC Manager (5.2.0.0). Previously, you were able to download async patches using a CLI procedure, which I…
Upgrade to NSX 4.2.1.0 from the NSX GUI
This blog post will show you the steps required to update NSX to release 4.2.1.0 from the GUI, in a manual step-by-step process. During the update you need to download…
VCF 5.2.1 – Updating to VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3b
In this fourth blog post – we will guide you through the required update steps to update ESXi 8.0 Update 2b (as part of VCF 5.1.1) to 8.0 Update 3b,…
VCF 5.2.1 – Updating to vCenter Server 8.0 U3d using the Async Patch for security (VMSA-2024-0019)
In this second blog post – out of three steps – we will guide you through the required update steps to update vCenter Server 8.0 U2 to 8.0 U3d, as…
VCF 5.2.1 – Upgrade to NSX 4.2.1 from SDDC Manager
This second post on Updating to VCF 5.2.1.0 highlights the steps to take on how to update to VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.1.0, and NSX-T 4.2.1.0 specifically. According to Bill-of-Materials in…
Async Patch cannot be used in SDDC Manager 5.2.1
Imagine: you have recently upgraded to VCF 5.2.1.0, and ready to apply the vCenter Server 8.0 Update 3d async patch (VMSA-2024-0019.2) You have downloaded the correct file. Note the version:…
Updating to Cloud Foundation 5.2.1 : SDDC Manager
“VMware Cloud Foundation is a multi-cloud platform that provides a full-stack hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) that is made for modernizing data centers and deploying modern container-based applications.” In this first –…
VMware Cloud Director 10.6 Upgrade fails with generic error “Error while running installation tests and post-install scripts”
Here we are again: a VMware Cloud Director Upgrade fails with some generic error: Error while running installation tests and post-install scripts The steps leading into this, using the Installation/Upgrade…
VMware Cloud Director CloudCell is not active
A short blog post to help you all a little further… And all of a sudden one of your CloudCell nodes seem not active. While you Aria Operations Cloud Director…
Automatically remove snapshots in vSphere 8.0 Update 3 using retention
Ever since the release of vCenter Server 8.0 Update 3, a new feature has been available: scheduled removal of snapshot. This is the result of a frequent request to allow…
Aria Suite Lifecycle No Upgrade available
I have run across this issue several times now, and re-invented the wheel the same number of times. Even though there is a KB article on this specific topic, it…
Remove a failed task in SDDC Manager – Cloud Foundation
When using the SDDC Manager, it sometimes occurs that certain tasks, whether or not initiated through the API Explorer, fail or get halted. This blog post discusses how to remove…
Upgrading your VMware HomeLab: running OPNsense with 2.5Gbps speeds
Imagine the following… You are running a home lab with at least two ESXi hosts in a cluster. vMotions are somewhat slow, especially compared to what you’re used to at…
Update NSX from the User Interface
Every once in a while, whether or not it is security, bugfix or feature related, it is necessary to update NSX. Even though NSX is possibly part of your VCF…
SDDC Manager 5.1.1 – vCenter Upgrade 7.0 U3 to 8.0 U2
In this second blog post – out of three steps – we will guide you through the required update steps to update vCenter Server 7.0 U3 to 8.0 U2, as…
NSX 4.1 – Alarms indicating Corfu certificates are expired or about to expire
Recently, after we have updated 3.2 to 4.1 NSX-T appliances, as part of the VCF 4.5.2 to 5.1.1 change, many Corfu certificates seemed to be expired. We were not aware…
Create a custom ESXi ISO Image through vSphere LifeCycle Manager
This blog post deals with a feature that has been available in vSphere since vSphere 8.0 U1, however not many people know about this. VMware has documented this as well.…
Updating to Cloud Foundation 5.1.1 : SDDC Manager
In this first – out of three steps – we will guide you through the required update steps to update VCF 4.5.0 to 4.5.2 through SDDC Manager. You will find…
Restore your file-based vCenter backup using the vCenter Server Appliance ISO
This blog post highlights the steps involved to restore your file-based backup to a newly deployed vCenter Server. Requirement: the VMware vCenter Server Appliance ISO consists of three installer types:…
Backup your vCenter Appliance to Synology Diskstation
This blog describes how to create a share on your Synology Diskstation NAS, and backup your vCenter Server Appliance configuration using the VAMI to your Network Attached Storage appliance. If…
Update vCenter Appliance from the VAMI
This blog post describes the easy few steps to upgrade vCenter Server through the VAMI. If you’re looking for the faster method with Reduced Downtime Upgrade (RDU), available from vCenter…
Aria Operations
Aria Operations for Logs
Aria Suite
Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager
Cloud Foundation
VMware
SDDC Manager has disconnected vRLI, vROps and vRSLCM accounts
A new blog post: our VCF environments have faced disconnected accounts in vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager, aka Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager, for quite a while now. Actually, ever since we…
Aria Suite Lifecycle – Aria Operations – Migrating Remote Collectors to Cloud Proxies using Aria Suite Lifecycle
While trying to update Aria Operations 8.14.1, basically like we did earlier, we ran into the issue that the Remote Collectors are required to be updated to (native) Cloud Proxies.…
My first VMUG session
Dear blog reader, Some two months back I was asked to join and present a VMUG session with the world’s largest VMware User Group, the VMUGNL Usercon 2024. I must…
Updating to Cloud Foundation 4.5.2.0 : NSX-T Manager 3.2.3.1
This second post on Updating to VCF 4.5.2.0 highlights the steps to take on how to update to VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.2.0, and NSX-T 3.2.3.1 specifically. According to Bill-of-Materials in…
Updating to Cloud Foundation 4.5.2.0 : SDDC Manager
In this first – out of three steps – we will guide you through the required update steps to update VCF 4.5.0 to 4.5.2 through SDDC Manager. You will find…
Subscribed Content Library fails to synchronize
vSphere Content Library fails to synchronize Out of the box, vSphere Content Libraries are seldomly used in Enterprise environments. However, they can be quite helpful synchronizing your Golden Images (VM…
How to upgrade VMware Aria Operations through Aria Suite Lifecycle – A Step by Step guide
In one of our previous posts, we have updated the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle environment, as well as Aria Operations for Logs. Now it is time to install an update…
Updating Aria Operations for Logs from Aria Suite Lifecycle
Aria Operations for Logs, formerly known as vRealize LogInsight, is log analysis tooling that allows faster troubleshooting across environments, as well as operational visibility. While LifeCycle Management for Aria Operations…
Renewing NSX-T LocalManager certificates
Expiring certificates occur every so often. It is best to have the replaced or renewed before the expiration date. In our NSX-T environment, the LocalManager, mp-cluster and tomcat certificates are…
Upgrading VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle
VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle delivers complete lifecycle and content management capabilities for VMware Aria Suite products. For this blog post, Aria Suite Lifecycle allows administrators to update, patch or upgrade…
Properly restarting the NSX-T Management Cluster
Sometimes it is necessary to restart all nodes in the NSX-T Management cluster. In this specific case, because a T0 Gateway showed a Failed status through a false-positive error. The…
Upgrade vSAN Disk Format Using RVC
On a regular basis, the ESXi hypervisors in your environment are updated. When updating to major updates (e.g. ESXi 8.0U1), you have the option to update your vSAN On-Disk Format…
Remove stuck VAMI backup jobs in five steps
Some months ago, a VAMI vCenter backup job was not finished successfully; the job was canceled manually. Unfortunately, the canceling itself failed and the backup process was stuck at 95%.…
Secure Boot on ESXi
What is Secure Boot Secure Boot is a security feature to prevent malicious software from loading when your system boots. With Secure Boot in use, a machine refuses to load…
Restore vSAN Skyline Health Check Alerts through RVC
Have you ever wanted to restore the previously silenced Skyline Health Checks, but you could not do this the normal way, meaning through the vSphere GUI? The alternate method is…
VCF 4.5.0 precheck fails with failed rotation workflows
Very recently, we required a vCenter Update in our VCF 4.5.0 environment. In this case, we were using the AsyncPatch Tool for VMSA-2023-0014 One of the steps required is to…
My vExpert Award
I have been granted the vExpert award for 2023! This award is a recognition for my contributions to the VMware Community. A little over a month ago, I was triggered…
VCF – Using the Async Patch Tool
Has the installation of patches through Cloud Foundation always been straightforward for you? …. Well, that’s not always the case. This post guides you through the process of downloading these…
VCF 4.5.0 Change DNS or NTP Servers in NSX-T
VCF 4.5.0 Change DNS or NTP Servers in NSX-T Manager In addition to our post in this link, our VCF 4.5.0 SDDC Manager started mentioning something is out of the…
PhotonOS Configuring Cronjobs
While using VMware’s Photon OS more regularly, some basic activities might be required, one such topic is the creation of cronjobs : creating and managing cronjobs, schedules Using cronjobs to…
My Homelab
As a Virtualization Specialist I started running my private virtual machines in 2014 on my Intel DC3217IYE NUC with 16GB of RAM. My Homelab consists of a vSphere environment with…
PowerCLI Disable deprecated protocols (TLSv1, TLSv1.1 and SSLv3)
It is a best practice to disable deprecated, unused and unsafe protocols. Examples of these are RFC 8996 for TLSv1.0 and TLSv1.1 as well as RFC7568 for SSLv3 In this…
NSX-T CheatSheet
In this section some basic CLI commands for nsxcli will be provided. These can be used for troubleshooting. Please take into account the NSX-T Data Center Administration Guide for NSX-T…
NSX-T Management service has failed
After backup, the NSX-T Management (SSH) service has failed. According to VMware Support, this can be due to the NSX-T backup that seems to disable the NSX-T Management Service after…
Credential Management from GRUB
Have you locked your root account in your Linux / PhotonOS system, or need to reset the password? You can find your solution here. You can easily use GRUB to…