Posts

ESXi 6.5 U1 Host Client Login Issue

By -
Today I did a fresh installation of ESXi 6.5 U1. During the installation, set up the root password.

After everything is working with IP address assigned, DNS and gateway, we started to try to access using the Host Client using IE 11.

Encounter this message "cannot complete login due to an incorrect user name or password". Thought that might have entered the wrong password. Type in a notepad and copy and paste. Same error message encountered on both servers.

Did some search but never encounter anyone having the same issue other than old post found on ESXi 6.0 with the old vSphere Client. Decide to try out one of the method.

Head right down to both server and use the DCUI and select Change Password option. Use back the same password.  Walah! Host Client works now.

Very strange behaviour. Apparently during installation seems like the host client didnt register the password.

Hope this help for those encountering the same issue.
Read more

VMware ROBO License

By -
Recently there was some discussion over licensing in Facebook vExpert group.

One of the users questioned about licensing 3 hosts, each placed at one location. He wants to be able to do a snapshot and monitor the health of the ESXi host. He intends to add a fourth host in future. He was also told by the account executive that vSphere Essential cannot meet this requirement.

Let me explain some of the information which might be not clear enough.

vSphere Essential and Essential Plus kit is a bundle that comes with vCenter Server Essential (which is not available for sale) and vSphere Essential/Essential Plus licensing. ]vCenter Server Essential can only manage up to three ESXi servers. The vSphere Essential kit allows you to license up to 3 hosts or 6 CPUs whichever come first. But you cannot license more than 3 hosts even if each only has 1 CPU. This is because vCenter Essential can only manage up to 3 ESXi hosts. Also, the licensing would not allow you to manage using a vCenter Server S…
Read more

VMware vSAN 2017 Specialist

By -
There are two specialist certifications release by VMware, namely vRealize Operations and vSAN.

Recently I took the attempt for vSAN Specialist Exam. Before we go into it, let see what is the requirement to take this exam.

You need to have a valid VCP 6.x on any track. No course requirement but the vSAN Deploy and Manage is recommended.

There is only a Digital Badge when you passed the exam and there is no certification for this exam.  The exam code is 2VB-601: VMware Specialist: vSAN 6.x Exam.

Do check out the exam guide. However, the guide does not indicate the exam time and the number of questions. Total questions were 60 from what I encounter and the time is similar to VCP about 240 mins. Cost for me is SGD363 (this might differ for other countries).

You are required to know everyone on vSAN from 6.0 to the latest now 6.6. Everything in these versions will be tested. It will be good to understand the concept and fundamentals of the technology as well all the features that have rel…
Read more

vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 1.0

By -
Something got a release note today known as vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 1.0.  What is this software about?
VMware has a bundle known as vCloud Suite.  Just a breakdown what is in vCloud Suite/ vCloud Suite is a comprises of two things: vRealize Suite + vSphere Enterprise Plus.
vRealize Suite (depending on Editions) will consist of some or all of the below: vRealize AutomationvRealize BusinessvRealize Operations ManagervRealize Log Insight
vSphere (depending on edition) will consist of some or all of the below: vCenter Standard (purchase separately)ESXivSphere ReplicationvSphere Data Protection (last major edition)vSphere Big Data Extension
Looking at the above, you start to see that installing and managing the upgrade will be a big tedious process.  Lots of planning and double and triple check the compatibility matrix.
So here comes vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager.  This handles the deployment and patching the vRealize Suite components that you own.  For your Day 0 to Day 2 tasks …
Read more

Questions on vSphere Enterprise Edition

By -
Recently, I get a lot of questions regarding vSphere Enterprise Edition and some confusion around it.

The reason of these questions because VMware announced the end of availability (EOA) of vSphere Enterprise Edition on 9th Feb.  What this means that if you want to purchase vSphere Enterprise, this will no longer be available, you are left with only 3 options; vSphere Standard, vSphere Enterprise Plus or vSphere with Operations Management Enterprise Plus (vSOM) (excluding all those small kits e.g. vSphere Essentials, etc.).

What will happen to vSphere Enterprise in terms of support?
Support will still be valid until March 2020 as long support and maintenance is still valid.

Can I upgrade/downgrade my existing vSphere Enterprise to a valid edition?
You can only upgrade but not downgrade.  In this case, you can only move up to vSphere Enterprise Plus or vSphere with Operations Management Enterprise Plus (vSOM).

Am currently on vSphere 6.0 Enterprise or below, can I still upgrade to 6.5 sin…
Read more

VMware Security Advisories

By -
If you are new to VMware or not aware, VMware has a Security Advisories page that publishes any new vulnerabilities found in any of its products, including VMware Fusion and Workstation.

In fact, to keep yourself updated, it is good to subscribe for such new notices.  Just head over to the page to subscribe.

Just yesterday, 15th Sept, there is a critical vulnerability notice which affects ESXi 6.5 (not the Update 1).

Always good to stay up to date and apply such critical patches as soon as you can.
Read more

VMware License Is Latest Version What If I Needed a version Behind Or More?

By -
I get this so often and decide to just clear this up.

In any ISV or software vendors where you purchase their software, the license received will always be the latest.  This applies the same for any VMware products.

You won't want to purchase something from the market to find that it was 1 year ago right?

So what if your environment is running an older version and you just acquire new licenses which are a newer version than yours when you want to scale?

Don't worry, you can always go to your VMware license portal and select a number of licenses that you want to downgrade to.  The version available is the Products version that is still supported.

You can also upgrade your older version of the product to the later or latest version as long your licenses are still under Support & Subscription (SnS).

At the time of writing, using vSphere version 5.5 is still supported so the lowest version will be 5.5.  This also to give you a reminder, never to run an out of support version o…
Read more