10 Aug 2013
By Yendis

Installing vSphere Client 5.1 fails

VMware, , ,
When installing the vSphere 5.1 client you may encounter the following error message "Failed to install hcmon", if you look at the vminst.log file (which is normally located in the %TEMP% area) you will notice the following:- After troubleshooting this issue I found that I required Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 Service Pack 1 installed (or the feature wasn't turned on) before installing the client. Install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 Service Pack 1 Install the vSphere 5.1 client  
Read More
30 Jul 2013
By Yendis

VMware OS Optimization Tool

VMware, , ,
The VMware OS Optimization Tool helps optimize Windows 7 desktops for use with VMware Horizon View.  The optimization tool includes customizable templates to enable or disable Windows system services and features, per VMware recommendations and best practices, across multiple systems.  Since most Windows system services are enabled by default, the optimization tool can be used to easily disable unnecessary services and features to improve performance. You can perform the following actions using the VMware OS Optimization Tool: Analyze Optimize Viewing History Managing Template Also included is the Remote OS Optimization Tool, which uses the same functionality as the Optimization Tool,…
Read More
17 Jun 2013
By Yendis

VDI Calculator v2 with Citrix XenDesktop support

Citrix, VMware, , ,
Andre Leibovici at myvirtualcloud.net has today released the latest version of his very useful  VDI Calculator tool.  The new calculator is built on Java framework (Java 6 or later required) instead of Flash, and will run on both Windows and Mac computers. The new calculator has all the features available in the previous flash version plus new key features that will make life easier for many users. Features: Offline Support – The new version will be able to run when disconnected from the network. When connected, it will auto-update itself with the latest release. Load/Save – Now you can save and load your configurations eliminating…
Read More
10 Jun 2013
By Yendis

Best practices for VMware Snapshots

VMware,
I have come across a number of forums and emails were people are unsure on the proper use of snapshots and on occasions using snapshots for the wrong reason.  I found a great VMware article which I think covers everything you need to know about snapshots and the correct use:- Snapshots are not backups. A snapshot file is only a change log of the original virtual disk. Therefore, do not rely on it as a direct backup process. The virtual machine is running on the most current snapshot, not the original vmdk disk files. Snapshots are not complete copies of the original…
Read More
29 May 2013
By Yendis

Awarded VMware vExpert 2013 Status

VMware,
I only started my blog a year ago and this week I’ve completed two goals I set out to achieve.  Firstly I wanted to help as many people with posts on my blog and I’m happy to say I have just passed the 100,000 visitor count.  Secondly I have heard a lot about a group of individuals who are selected every year and awarded the title of VMware vExpert.  It’s that time of year again when VMware vExpert awards are handed out and I’m honored to have been selected as a VMware vExpert 2013.  You can find the full VMware blog post with all…
Read More
27 Apr 2013
By Yendis

vSphere 5.1 GPU acceleration now supported on XenDesktop with HDX 3D Pro and XenApp with HDX 3D

VMware, , ,
VMware recently introduced GPU hardware acceleration support for its latest hypervisor release, vSphere 5.1. XenDesktop 5.6 FP1 and XenApp 6.5 FP1 have tested successfully with the new GPU acceleration capabilities on vSphere 5.1 and Citrix officially supports these configurations. vSphere 5.1 introduced two GPU acceleration methods: Direct graphics acceleration (vDGA) and Shared graphics acceleration (vSGA). vDGA is similar to XenServer’s GPU pass-through method where each graphics processor supports a single VM to enable high performance rendering for designers and engineers that require a dedicated GPU or for GPU sharing with multi-user XenApp VMs. vSGA is a light-weight implementation of GPU sharing designed for business graphics such as Microsoft Office…
Read More
19 Mar 2013
By Yendis

Change root password on all (or some) vSphere hosts

VMware, , , , ,
As part of a security audit I needed a quick way to change the ESXi root passwords without having to go on to each server. I was looking for a script that would automate at least some of the work for me and I came across a script called Change-ESXiPassword.ps1 that was created by Jesse Gardner which I thought I would give a try. After running the script and knowing it works fine I will be personally be running this every quarter. This script: prompts you for the old password prompts you for the new password prompts you for the vCenter…
Read More
01 Mar 2013
By Yendis

Latest Fling from VMware Labs – DrmDiagnose

Tools, VMware
VMware vCenter has provided sophisticated resource management controls (to set resource reservations, limits, shares, etc.) for virtual machines since vCenter 2.0. However, we have noticed that not everyone uses these controls due to confusion about how these features can affect other virtual machines in the resource pool. For instance, what happens when you increase the CPU size of a VM? How does that affect the other VMs in the same cluster? This Fling attempts to make this easier by providing resource management recommendations based on inventory dumps of the existing environment. It compares the current resource demands of a VM and suggests…
Read More
05 Feb 2013
By Yendis

VMware Release & Build Info

VMware, ,
Whilst doing some research today based around release/build numbers for several VMware products I discovered a site with all the necessary information in one place.  Great news so I thought I would share it with you all click HERE to direct to the information.
Read More
27 Jan 2013
By Yendis

vCenter and Memory metrics

VMware, , ,
I have received an email today asking if I could explain the memory details that are in vCenter under the summary tab on each VM.  Rather than reinvent the wheel I have taken a blog post from Duncan Epping over at www.yellow-bricks.com which I find explains it very well. It appears that there is a lot of confusion around this topic and that probably comes from the fact that some of the Performance Metrics are named similarly but don’t always refer to the same. Let’s start with “General”: (more…)
Read More