Hot VMware Topics – July 2016

July is out of the way, and that means it’s time for another segment of our Hot VMware Topics Series, which focuses on interesting, news, links and howtos from the VMware world over the last month! We have 6 good links to check out for this month, so let’s get started!

1. DFW Rules Using SG not Correctly Being Applied to VMs after NSX 6.2.3 Install or Upgrade

Author: VMware Knowledge Base

It’s a pretty lengthy title right? This basically equates to MAJOR NSX issues. I wanted to put this link first as there have been some reported cases of this causing issues for people. The issue basically boils down to VM traffic disruption for virtual machines, which is NOT something that anyone wants to deal with. Obviously, if you’re not using NSX, you don’t really have to worry about this, but in the event you are, DON’T upgrade to the latest version just yet. Keep an eye on this KB and wait for the green light to be given by VMware.

Additionally, there has been a related issue reported as well, which can be found HERE.

2. VSAN Healthcheck: Read Cache Reservations Test Failed

Author: Duncan Epping

It seems like a trend over the last few months that I always include a link or 2 from Duncan Epping in this piece, but with good reason! He puts out fantastic information regarding VSAN! This month’s link is regarding VSAN implementations in VDI scenarios, which are becoming more and more common these days. Specifically the VSAN healthcheck utility will show a failure for the Read Cache Reservations. Duncan walks us through the error and how to correct it.

3. vSphere 5.0 & 5.1 End of Support soon – Upgrade your ESXi Hosts

Author: Florian Grehl

I know a lot of administrators still who have the unofficial policy/rule that says they run a version or two behind the current official release of software. This is usually done to avoid bugs, but it also has the unfortunate side-effect of putting you in a place where you’re pushed up against the end of support window for that same piece of software. If you fall into this category you’ll want to keep an eye on this article. Florian walks us through the end of support dates and what steps to take next if you find yourself in this position.

4. Script to Verify ESXi 5.5 and 6.0 Support

Author: Florian Grehl

With the previous article in mind, Florian has added some extra value here for his readers. He’s created a pretty awesome PowerCLI script that will actually compare the hardware of each host in a vCenter instance with the VMware HCL (Hardware Compatibility List). This is a nice time saver if you’re unsure of your hosts hardware, and let’s face it, no one likes to sift though the HCL list manually to try and figure out if their hardware is compatible or not. Another great tool to put in the bookmarks here!

5. Removing the VMware NSX Solution from vCenter

Author: Martijn Smit

I know many folks that have been or are interested in VMware NSX. It’s a very compelling solution that can solve many potential issues within our infrastructure. With that said, many of these same people are getting to the point where then need to test the software out and see exactly how it functions and what it can do for their organization. Once testing is done however, sometimes it can be difficult to figure out how to remove it. Martijn Smit from VMGuru.com has provided a nice howto on how to do just that. Enjoy!

6. New KB Articles Published for Week Ending 08/06/16

Author: VMware KB Digest Blog

Another official document from VMware themselves. It’s not hard hitting news or interesting new features, but it’s VERY good information to have. I really like that VMware does this on a weekly basis as it really helps administrators pay attention to the bug fixes and vulnerability patching that occurs at VMware on a weekly basis so that they can update their software on a regular basis. If you haven’t subscribed to this page yet, you probably should if you want to stay in the know when it comes to the state of current known issues at VMware.

Wrap-Up

So that wraps things up for us this month! Hopefully this has helped you stay informed and provided some additional resources to make your job easier. If you know of a cool topic of a hot link that you think should be included in this list, be sure to use the comments section below to let us know.

Thanks for reading!

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