Kubernetes Academy goes live

There’s a new learning portal about containers and Kubernetes. VMware has launched https://kubernetes.academy to share knowledge around the container ecosphere. It is meant for newcomers and advanced learners.

Registration is free. VMware wants to spread the word about containes and container orchestration to the community in order to gain momentum for these future technologies.

If you’re unsure which tutorial to watch, there’s a short assessment quiz that will offer you a personalized course recommendation.

Read HBA Driver and Firmware Version

Before upgrading an ESXi host, it is best practice to to look at VMware HCL and check compatibility of host and IO devices. The combination of driver version, firmware version and ESXi release is crucial for compatibility. Even minor updates might lead to loss of HCL compatibility. A system that used to be HCL compliant at time of deployment, might no longer be compatible after e.g. the third ESXi update release. Updates can bring new driver versions which in turn might require higher firmware versions.

If you’re lucky you may have a software solution that keeps track of all your firmware and driver versions. Runecast Analyzer for example does a pretty good job and shows you current compatibility issues with a single click. Furthermore you can simulate updates/upgrades to any higher vSphere version and the resulting HCL status.

Unfortunately many customers do not have a software solution like that. In these cases you need to go back to the roots (literally) and gather all information on the ESXi shell. To do so you need to enable SSH service on all hosts you want to verify. That can be done in the vSphere-Client or more elegant and faster by a PowerCLI command.

Continue reading “Read HBA Driver and Firmware Version”

VMworld2019 Barcelona

ElasticSky.de chosen as official blogging partner

It’ll be the eleventh time when VMworld Europe opens its gates in Barcelona from 4th November to 7th November 2019. Traditionally VMworld Europe takes place after VMworld North-America, which will be held in San Francisco in August 2019. VMworld Europe will mainly attract visitors from the EMEA region. Although breakout sessions will be mostly the same in SF and BCN, both events will have different content and highlights. There are three months time in between, so you can be sure to expect announcements in Barcelona that weren’t ready in August.

Every year bloggers can apply for one of the few blogging passes handed out by VMware. In 2018 I successfully applied for a pass and so I tried it again in 2019. Last Monday I got an email which confirmed that I will get one of the blogging passes. I’m very happy honored about getting a pass for the second time. Many thanks to the blogging team at VMware.

Friends asked me if I would go there even if I hadn’t been selected. The answer is yes for numerous reasons. Besides condensed first-hand information it is networking with friends from all over the world. Where else can you meet VMware product managers and developers in one place. Last year I have written a VMworld Survival Guide about going to Barcelona and why.

Early Bird registration will be open until July 23rd 2019. You can save 200 € on ticket price when booking before end of early bird registration phase.

I’m going to post articles here on ElasticSky.de before and during VMworld Europe. Stay tuned.

New publications in IT-Administrator Magazine

Optimization, troubleshooting and monitoring of virtual infrastructures is like a scientific subject in itself and one of my IT-passions. Together with my buddy Dr. Jens Söldner I have published two articles in german IT-Administrator magazine (German Language), which cover the subjects above.

First article covers strategies for vSphere troubleshooting, best practises and useful tools like VeeamOne, RVTools, vRealize Log Insight or Runecast-Analyzer.

Second article covers vSphere management, administration, automatization and deployment.

IT-Administrator – Special Edition 01/2019

This special edition is available well-assorted magazine stores or can be obtained directly from the publisher’s website.