Nov 29

VMware ESX and HOSTS files

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As I’ve dug into VMware, there seems to be a common thread suggesting that all ESX hosts should be available via IP, short name (machine name) and FQDN.

Here is a good excerpt from an article outlining that concept. This is from VMwarewolf, and he’s talking about 3.0, but this came concept still applies. I still see a lot of KB and forum articles still saying this is important, and in the 5.1 boot camp there is discussion about resolving by all three methods.

Excerpt;

Today I bring you VMware ESX users a valuable tip that I have picked up in the few weeks I have worked at VMware Tech Support . By this time next week I will have reached the end of my probationary period and will be a regular full time employee. Even though I’m still greener than daffodil sprouts in the garden, I have handled a number of cases that were easily solved with this small configuration change

LINK – http://www.vmwarewolf.com/my-number-1-tip-for-esx/

Nov 29

Boot VMware to USB

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I want to capture this page for my own use, and to share with others.

This is NOT my article and all credit goes to the original author.This is from “How to Geek” at http://www.howtogeek.com/97923/how-to-boot-a-vmware-virtual-machine-from-a-usb-drive/.

 

Here is an excerpt;

Do you have an OS installed on your USB thumb drive? Booting from it in a VM is now possible, you’ll just have to use a simple trick to get it to work.

Last week we showed you how to put Ubuntu on a USB drive in a separate partition, and we also discussed working with VMware Player (our favourite VM Client). But have you ever tried booting from a USB drive in VMWare? It doesn’t allow doing so, but we will force it to boot from a USB, with a bit of old geekery.

Oct 22

Windows Azure Free Trial

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In homage to Azure, we have a fancy newsletter title bar, here it is don’t let my creativity blind you;

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Server 2012 Newsletter #4

NEXT NEWSLETTER (#4)

·Cloud Options

·Azure

Cloud, who knows what that is. I’m getting so tired of it one hand, but then on the other hand you see products driven from the Cloud pressure like V-Block and Whiptail. To a lesser degree, I even think Cisco UCS success is driven by the pressure to get “to the cloud”. The “cloud” doesn’t solve everything, but can provide a unique set of packaged services and “hide” the back end. I can walk over here a few feet and kick my stack of HP G5s running my VMware cluster and it hurts my foot. I cannot go anywhere to “kick” my cloud, but it can still hurt me (Netflix/AWS for example). Products exist to bring a private cloud into an Enterprise. Or, one can use existing cloud services and not be responsible for the back end.

We’ve seen some big companies move to hosted cloud. Azure is the offering from Microsoft but then there are also products like Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM Smartcloud, Google App Engine, Engine Yard, etc. Netflix, the biggest mover of data to and from households, stores much of their data on AWS, and was really hurt (stubbed their toe) when AWS suffered outages which you can read about here.

So, for personal cloud options you can use products like AWS, or any of the multitude of VPS (Virtual Private Server) offerings. You can get free VPS accounts to run various OS from sites like these;

http://www.vps.me/free-vps

http://freevps.us/

http://www.squidoo.com/free-vps-hosting-trials

VPS is different from a website hosting account. For traditional hosting, you have no access to the OS. For VPS, you get OS control and access, at least to some degree.

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For this newsletter, we’ll focus most of our attention on Azure. There are great resources for this cloud offering from Microsoft. First, here is a link to the 90 day free trial of Azure. The Azure offering provides various OS choices, which many of the free VPS do not.  Azure offers web sites, virtual machines, mobile services, cloud services, SQL databases (including 2012), storage, etc. They also offer the following OS choices;

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After you have set up your Azure account, using the link above, here is a good list of where and how to start with Azure. Finally, after getting it up and running, you can learn more using this Azure Training Kit. Once your account is set up, you simply RDP to the virtual server just like you would any other server.

The Twitter handle for Azure is @WindowsAzure. It’s a little slanted to the sales side, certainly not a technical account.

Let me know if you have any questions! I have one more email in this string, I’d be interested in any suggested topics.

JL

This, and all of the related emails, are published on www.jonathanlackman.com/blog

NEXT NEWSLETTER (#5)

·Storage Craft (imaging / Bare Metal Back) for Labbing

·Misc., anything new

Q and A?

Email me any questions or requests. I will have all of these on a blog this week. I also TWEET on IT topics, Server, SQL, Big Data, Datacenter, etc.

Do I like Server 2012?  Yes, I love it.

How long does it take to patch the default install?  Just minutes, I only had 1 follow-up patch.

 

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I’m always on Twitter at @jonathanlackman  Like every single day!

Oct 18

Server 2012 FREE eBook, FREE training

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Server 2012 Newsletter #3

 

NEXT NEWSLETTER (#3)

  • Free eBook on Server 2012 (no physical books are out yet)
  • Training

 

Ok, as promised, in this note we will provide links on a FREE ebook on Server 2012. Most new books are ebooks because they are available before they can get them printed. If you have a Kindle, this one is also available in .MOBI. You can also install the Kindle app on a PC, or on a phone, or whatever, you don’t really need a Kindle to read Kindle books. Kindles will also read .pdf.  So, why is a .mobi better?  Simple; a .pdf on a Kindle does not scale; you have to scroll around to read it which is a pain. A .mobi will scale and read just like a Kindle book. Also, if you use the “send to Kindle” app, it will NOT work with this book as it’s just over the 50 Mb limit for the “send to Kindle” app. This is like 51 Mb or something, so you have to move it to your Kindle with a USB cord. Anyhow, enough of Kindle.

 

 

  • Leveraging the popular “Jump Start” virtual classroom approach, Microsoft Senior Technical Evangelist Rick Claus and TrainSignal Microsoft Certified Trainer Ed Liberman will walk you through new features and functionality in Windows Server 2012. Topics and technologies covered will include Dynamic Access Control (DAC), Failover Clustering, Microsoft Online Backup and storage, Active Directory, Hyper-V and Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS), and high availability. This course is NOT a “product upgrade” course covering considerations for migrating and upgrading your specific environment; but, it is exam preparation material and maps directly to Exam 70-417: Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012. Note this is PACIFIC time, so it’s evening. I belive these will be available “on demand” afterwards, most MVA (Microsoft Virtual Academy) stuff IS, but I don’t know for sure.
Oct 18

SQL 2012 on Azure – FREE

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Well, it’s free for 90 days. But what a great way to play with SQL 2012 for 90 days for FREE?

 

It’s slick.

 

I think you can get what you need from two links. It DOES ask for a credit card, but just for authentication/validation.

 

It will take you maybe 15 minutes/30 minutes playing with the Azure interface. Once you get the server configured, you just RDP it.

 

The SQL 2012 VM is on Server 2008R2 as an OS.

 

The link to the offer

 

Good link to read with tips on configuring the account

Oct 18

Server 2012 – Boot USB

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I don’t know how many of these emails I’ll send, but my goal is to share some of the resources I’ve found and been using to lab Server 2012.  I think there are two ways you can train on this;

 

1.       You have physical hardware you can lab with

2.       You can use some hosted or cloud environment

 

We’ll cover both options, but start with the physical lab approach. For me, I have 3 HP G5s in the basement, with the IVT capability. Basically, you need IVT (Intel Virtualization Technology) or its counterparts to run Hyper-V, which is why I jumped on these servers I have. I also have a stack of desktop type computers that will run server OS.

 

To me, one of the first steps to consider in a physical lab is how you are going to image or install OS, since you’ll be doing it a lot. I don’t necessarily like sitting around and waiting on DVD’s and CD’s for hours.

 

The method I have settled on and been using is installing from a USB 2.0 device. USB 2.0 is multiple times faster than DVD or CD. Typically USB will not transfer at the maximum theoretical rates (usually about 50% – 60%).  There’s a lot of debate about published vs. actual, so I’m not putting numbers in here. There is also a lot of evidence that the specific USB device can have a lot of impact on the speed. I just bought whatever was around, and it’s been fast enough to me. I’ve been using the USB boot and install tools below, and I can install Server 2012 to a G5 in 20 minutes.

 

 

 

BOOT AND INSTALL FROM USB

Tools;

You need a tool to create the bootable USB. You will need the tool, plus the .iso for the OS you’re installing.

 

I use WIN USB MAKER. This link is to a short description, and a download link at the bottom of the article.

I have heard good things about RUFUS.  But I have not used it.

 

There are also a lot more, just Google it to find links.

 

Then you need the .ISO. Download the Server 2012 RTM .iso here. Choose the .ISO on the left. What does “RTM” mean?  “Release to Manufacturer”.

 

FINAL STEP

Follow the instructions for your USB tool to create the bootable USB. I will ask for the location of the .iso, so it can boot and install the .iso when you’re ready.

 

Conclusion

With this tool, you will be able to boot to the USB and install the OS, from the USB. It’s very quick. So, if you have a physical box, you’re now prepared to create a bootable USP and quickly install the OS. Don’t worry, if you do NOT have physical boxes, we’ll get into some cloud options in future emails. This can also work with Server 2008 R2, or any other server OS. There are even boot USB tools that will create a menu with multiple OS options available on a single USB. So, although I HATE USB drives at work (shouldn’t have them at work) for this purpose they provide a great solution.

 

NEXT NEWSLETTER (#3)

·         Free eBook on Server 2012 (no physical books are out yet)

·         Training

 

NEXT NEWSLETTER (#4)

·         Cloud options

·         Azure

 

NEXT NEWSLETTER (#4)

·         Storage Craft (imaging / Bare Metal Back) for Labbing

·         Misc., anything new

 

 

Q and A?

Email me any questions or requests. I will have all of these on a blog this week. I also TWEET on IT topics, Server, SQL, Big Data, Datacenter, etc.

Do I like Server 2012?  Yes, I love it.

How long does it take to patch the default install?  Just minutes, I only had 1 follow-up patch.

 

 

 

Sep 24

Server 2012 Resources

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For any of you interested in Server 2012, I can point you to resources to;

 

1)      Set up your own lab (if you have hardware)

2)      Set up your own lab on Azure if you don’t have hardware

3)      Get the free eBook for 2012 from Microsoft Press (.pdf or .mobi). No physical books are published yet, that I can find.

4)      Join an early study group to learn and prepare for the 70-410 exam

5)      Get enrolled in a 40 hour MS training course for free, targeting the 70-410 exam

 

If anyone is interested in this stuff let me know.
JL