VirtuBytes

Install Windows Server 2016 on VMware

August 18, 2017 virtuadmin

Historically, the adoption rate on major server releases is slow. With Windows Server 2016 about to hit one year in the release cycle, more organizations are gearing up to deploy the operating system in their environments. That being the case, it seemed appropriate to walk through an install of Microsoft Windows Server 2016 as the guest OS in a vSphere 6.5 environment. NOTE – Server 2016 is fully supported from ESXi 5.5 and up, as per the VMware Compatibility Guide.

How to Set the vSphere Client Login Banner

August 10, 2017 virtuadmin

A few months ago, we discussed how to create a security message on the DCUI screen of an ESXi host. Along those same lines, it is also possible to include a banner on the login page of the vSphere Web Client. The banner feature was originally released in vSphere 6.0 Update 2 and like setting a security message, banners can relay pertinent information to targeted individuals. This information could be a message, disclaimer, or Terms and Conditions. Additionally, the banner…

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How to Install VMware vRealize Orchestrator 7.x

July 27, 2017 virtuadmin

VMware vRealize Orchestrator is an automation tool that utilizes workflows to simplify complex IT tasks. vRealize Orchestrator is natively integrated into vRealize Automation or it can be deployed stand-alone as a Linux appliance. At first glance, the lines between vRealize Orchestrator (vRO) and vRealize Automation (vRA) may seem blurred. To clear up any confusion, vRO is a general-purpose run book tool to automate IT tasks. vRA, on the other hand, is cloud management tool that relies on policy based governance…

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Suspect Database upon Zerto Failover

July 21, 2017 virtuadmin

Here is an issue more on the obscure side; nevertheless, it may prove beneficial to someone, somewhere, at some point. The issue pertains to a SQL database going Suspect after a Zerto Failover. To adequately explain the cause, we will first look at Microsoft SQL Server best practices for both VMware and Zerto. Let’s start with VMware best practices. Assuming the back-end storage is spinning disks and the virtual disks reside on VMFS volumes, VMware recommends separating SQL files. Meaning,…

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Online Upgrade to ESXi 6.5 Using ESXCLi

July 10, 2017 virtuadmin

A few months back, we discussed how to upgrade ESXi hosts using VMware Update Manager. However, if you do not employ VUM, hosts can also be upgraded via ESXCLi commands using an online repository. In this tutorial, we will upgrade an ESXi host from 6.0 to 6.5 using VMware Online Depot. In addition, I will discuss how to differentiate image profiles within the depot. If you are unfamiliar with the VMware Online Depot, it’s an online repository that provides access…

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