Eric Sloof - NTPRO.NL

In this video you can see the PowerCLI hero coming to the rescue when Luc Dekens got into trouble.

VMware is rolling out new VCP upgrade paths to promote vSphere 5 training as a way to upgrade from VCP 3 to VCP 5.  Listed below are the key points on the new upgrade paths:

• VCP 3’s can take the What’s New 5 ILT to qualify to take the VCP 5 exam
• Upgrade path is valid until Feb 29th, 2012 
• After Feb 29th, VCP 3’s will have to take ICM 5 to qualify for the VCP 5 exam
• Students in What’s New 5 ILT classes will receive access to the What’s New 4 eLearning to assist them in transition to vSphere 5
• Students do not have to take the eLearning course to qualify for the upgrade path
• Students who have taken a VCP 4 qualifying course, can attend the WN 5 ILT to satisfy the VCP 5 training requirement
• The upgrade path involving taking WN 4 to achieve a VCP 4 and then follow the VCP 4 to 5 upgrade path is still valid

Clustering Q&A with Frank Denneman and Duncan Epping

@esloof @FrankDenneman @duncanyb
@repping @gabvirtualworld

VMware has filed an intresting IETF internet draft.This document describes Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN), which is used to address the need for overlay networks within virtualized data centers accommodating multiple tenants. The scheme and the related protocols can be used in cloud service provider and enterprise data center networks.

VXLAN: A Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over Layer 3 Networks.

http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-mahalingam-dutt-dcops-vxlan-00

I’m very excited about this year’s VMworld conference to be held in Las Vegas at the 29th of August 2011. Not only because it’s the first time I’m attending as a speaker but also because I’ll try to capture all the excitement in and around the Las Vegas Venetian hotel with my new HD Video Camera.  I’ve created a short teaser trailer. The cool thing about this trailer is that the voice over is done by Jeroen van Inkel. He’s a famous Dutch DJ who created this jingle for me when I was the host at my own weekly radio show called the Twilightzone years ago. Hope you enjoy it and see ya in Las Vegas.

I’m about to kick of the first VMware vSphere 5 What’s New training for a full class.  If you’re interested in attending this training there are more slots available here. I can assure you it’s two days of awesomeness. This hands-on training course explores new features in VMware vCenter Server 5.0 and VMware ESXi 5.0. Topics include VMware vSphere 5 installation and how to upgrade from vSphere 4.x to vSphere 5.0. vSphere 5.0 is the first version of vSphere to include only the ESXi hypervisor.

After this course, you should be able to do the following:

 - List and describe key enhancements in vSphere 5.0.
 - Upgrade a VMware deployment from vSphere 4.1 to vSphere 5.0.
 - Use the vSphere Web Client to manage a version 8 virtual machine.
 - Upgrade and manage a VMware vSphere VMFS-5 datastore.
 - Understand and configure profile-driven storage.
 - Create a datastore cluster and configure Storage DRS.
 - Monitor VMware vSphere High Availability.
 - Use the Linux-based VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance.
 - Use Image Builder to modify and export an image profile.
 - Use VMware vSphere Auto Deploy to install a stateless ESXi host.
 - List and describe key networking enhancements, including the VMware ESXi firewall and new features in distributed virtual switches.

If you don’t have that much experience there’s also a 5 days vSphere 5.0 Install Configure and Manage training course available. I’ve also recorded a lot of video tutorials while vSphere 5 was still in beta. Here’s a list with all my vSphere 5 articles and videos. Have fun with it!

vSphere 5 Video - Direct Console User Interface Access through SSH
Video - vSphere 5 User Defined Network Resource Pools
Video - Enabling NetFlow on vSphere 5 Distributed Switches
Video - How to setup a vSphere 5 Port Mirror
Video - vSphere Storage Appliance - How does it work?
Video - What's New in VMware vCloud Director 1.5
Video - What's New in vSphere 5 and vCenter Heartbeat 6.4
Video - What's New in VMware vShield 5.0 - Trust Your Cloud
vSphere 5 Video - ESXi Firewall Configuration
vSphere 5 Video - iSCSI User Interface support
vSphere 5 Video – The vSphere Web Client
What's New in VMware vSphere 5 - Technical Whitepapers
vSphere 5 Video - Storage DRS
What's New in VMware vCloud Director 1.5
vSphere 5 – New Training Courses: What's New [V5.0] and VCP5
vSphere 5 video - Migrating from ESX 4.1 to ESXi 5.0
What's New in VMware vShield 5
vSphere 5 Video - EFI the Extensible Firmware Interface
vSphere 5 What's New - Profile Driven Storage
vSphere 5 What's New - High Availability (HA)
vSphere 5 What's New - Image Builder and Auto Deploy
vSphere 5 What's New - Storage Appliance (VSA)
vSphere 5 What's New - Storage DRS
New Book - VMware vSphere 5.0 Clustering Technical Deepdive (video)
What's New in VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5

This video will show you an new vSphere 5 feature which enables you to get access to the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) through SSH instead of the ESXi physical console. Only users that are assigned the Administrator role can log in to the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI). To allow access to the direct console, add the user to the local administrators group. Enabling or disabling lockdown mode affects which types of users are authorized to access host services, but it does not affect the availability of those services. In other words, if the ESXi Shell, SSH, or Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) services are enabled, they will continue to run whether or not the host is in lockdown mode.

Configure Lockdown Mode

To increase the security of your ESXi hosts, you can put them in lockdown mode. When you enable lockdown mode, no users other than vpxuser have authentication permissions, nor can they perform operations against the host directly. Lockdown mode forces all operations to be performed through vCenter Server.

When a host is in lockdown mode, you cannot run vSphere CLI commands from an administration server,vfrom a script, or from vMA against the host. External software or management tools might not be able to retrieve or modify information from the ESXi host.



The root user is still authorized to log in to the direct console user interface when lockdown mode is enabled. Enabling or disabling lockdown mode affects which types of users are authorized to access host services, but it does not affect the availability of those services. In other words, if the ESXi Shell, SSH, or Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) services are enabled, they will continue to run whether or not the host is in lockdown mode.

VMware has released the mock exam for VCP on vSphere 5. The VCP5 mock exam consist of 30 questions and is available here. The official VCP5 exam can be scheduled at the end of this month. Check your local VUE test centre for available dates.