News

VMworld Content Catalog Released

June 29, 2009 by Josh Townsend Leave a Comment

The VMworld 2009 Content Catalog was released on Friday night according to a post on the VMworld.com blog. I have only started to browse the many breakout sessions, instructor-led labs, self-paced labs, and panel sessions that are currently planned for VMworld 2009. A quick glance shows a wide variety of content for all technical levels across many tracks, including Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, Desktop Virtualization, Enterprise Applications, Technology and Architecture, Virtualization 101 and Virtualization Management. It also appears that the catalog includes a nice mix of VI3 and vSphere content, as well as expanded desktop virtualization information.

Be sure to browse the catalog now so you are ready for session registration later in July. From past experience, knowing what session and labs you want to attend before registration, and then jumping right into registration once it is available, is the best way to ensure you get a slot in the hottest sessions.

VMworld Here I Come

June 26, 2009 by Josh Townsend 1 Comment

Today is the last day for VMworld early-bird registration, and I got in just under the wire. Here’s to hoping that VMworld 2009 is as informative, fun and valuable as last years. I remember sitting in Vegas last year as the first of the big financial institutions began to fall. It will be interesting to see how the current economic condition impacts attendance, vendor quality, tee-shirt availability, and the VMworld party. Here’s to fun, free beer, and virtualization!

I’m also hoping that my wife will be able to join me and ‘geek out’ (her term) this year. If so, I’ll have to get her connected with the unofficial VMworld 2009 Spouse Activities!

VI Toolkit for Windows v1.5 Released Today

January 28, 2009 by Josh Townsend Leave a Comment

VMware released version 1.5 of the VI Toolkit for Windows – the PowerShell management and reporting tool of choice for many VMware administrators. The new version carries build number 142961. You can download v1.5 here: https://blogs.vmware.com/vipowershell/. The update includes some 32 new cmdlets, including ones for getting/setting NTP settings on ESX, getting/setting Advanced configuration options on ESX, getting/setting ESX Firewall settings, and the ability to modify DRS rules using PowerShell. Existing cmdlets have also been updated with new parameters, and several fixes have been introduced. Check out the release notes here: https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/windowstoolkit/wintk15/windowstoolkit15-200901-releasenotes.html.

There are plenty of examples on the Internet to get you started with the VI Toolkit for Windows. Check out these sites to get started:

Start at the VMware Community site for the Windows Toolkit for great examples and a little help from some friends: https://communities.vmware.com/community/developer/windows_toolkit/
There are also some good example scripts and resources floating around, such as:

https://vmetc.com/2008/08/27/powershell-scripting-examples-for-vmware-virtual-infrastructure/
https://www.peetersonline.nl/
https://www.ivobeerens.nl/?p=106
https://www.vmguru.com/

Not a hard-core scripter? Grab this handy tool for a little GUI on your PowerShell, and extend it with the VMware Infrastructure PowerPack 2.0

What tools or examples are you using to extend the power of PowerShell into your Virtual Infrasturucture? Leave a comment to share!