Monthly Archives: February 2014

RV Tools 3.6 Released

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RVTools is a windows .NET 2.0 application which uses the VI SDK to display information about your virtual machines and ESX hosts.

Interacting with all versions of VirtualCenter and ESX Server RVTools is able to list information about VMs, CPU, Memory, Disks, Partitions, Network, Floppy drives, CD drives, Snapshots, VMware tools, Resource pools, Clusters, ESX hosts, HBAs, Nics, Switches, Ports, Distributed Switches, Distributed Ports, Service consoles, VM Kernels, Datastores, Multipath info and health checks.

What’s new in Version 3.6 (Feburary 2014)

  • New tabpage with cluster information
  • New tabpage with multipath information
  • On vInfo tabpage new fields HA Isolation response and HA restart priority
  • On vInfo tabpage new fields Cluster affinity rule information
  • On vInfo tabpage new fields connection state and suspend time
  • On vInfo tabpage new field The vSphere HA protection state for a virtual machine (DAS Protection)
  • On vInfo tabpage new field quest state
  • On vCPU tabpage new fields Hot Add and Hot Remove information
  • On vCPU tabpage cpu/socket/cores information adapted
  • On vHost tabpage new fields VMotion support and storage VMotion support
  • On vMemory tabpage new field Hot Add
  • On vNetwork tabpage new field VM folder.
  • On vSC_VMK tabpage new field MTU
  • RVToolsSendMail: you can now also set the mail subject
  • Fixed a datastore bug for ESX version 3.5
  • Fixed a vmFolder bug when started from the commandline
  • Improved documentation for the commandline options

Below is an example of the new cluster tab.

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Below is an example of the new Multpath tab.

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It has been almost a year since the last version was released, but that is ok because this tool is FREE and is works great.  Sure I could write a powercli script to get a lot of this information, but it’s nice to get all of this information in a single click.  It also gets all of this information very fast because it uses the VI SDK.

I have been using this tool for a few years and it is one of my favorite documentation collection / troubleshooting tools.

Download your free version of RVTools 3.6

Top Virtualization Blogs for 2014 is now open

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Every year Eric Siebert (Twitter: @ericsiebert) of vsphere-land.com hosts the runs the survey of the top virtualization blogs.

The survey to select the top virtualization blogs for 2014 is now open. You can vote here.

This will be the first year that this blog will be participating in the poll. If you like what you have seen so far, feel free to vote for my blog in the every category I am listed in.

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VMware Update Manager upgrade failed

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Today I was busy with a vCenter server upgrade to vCenter 5 update 3. Everything went fine except the vCenter Update manager installation. I received the following error:

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A quick search on the interweb for “Error 25113.Setup failed to generate the JRE SSL keys” and I found a VMware KB with the exact issue.   According to VMware KB 2059567 all version of vSphere 5.x are affected by this bug.  Not sure if this is common knowledge to everyone else, but this is the first time I have seen this error.  I have done many upgrades and have never seen this before.  The solution is simple. Just stop the vCenter Update Manager service before starting the upgrade. Right after stopping the service, the installation was successful.

Apply and Become a VMware vExpert 2014!

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Today John Troyer (@jtroyer) – Social Media Chief and Community Evangelist @VMware opened the gates for a new round of vExpert Nominations. To apply you need to nominate yourself and describe all the hard work you have put into the VMware community last year. This itself is not that easy to do… try to remember what you  did last year…

The past couple of years we have seen the number of vExperts increase from 252 back in 2009, 326 in 2011, 434 in 2012 to 531 in 2013

vExperts who participate in the program have access to private betas, free licenses, early access briefings, exclusive events, free access to VMworld conference materials online, and other opportunities to interact with VMware product teams. They also get access to a private community and networking opportunities.

As with last year, there are three paths to being designated a vExpert. Each path takes into account the accomplishments and activities over the last year.

Evangelist Path

The Evangelist Path includes book authors, bloggers, tool builders, public speakers, VMTN contributors, and other IT professionals who share their knowledge and passion with others with the leverage of a personal public platform to reach many people. Employees of VMware can also apply via the Evangelist path. A VMware employee reference is recommended if your activities weren’t all in public or were in a language other than English.

Customer Path

The Customer Path is for leaders from VMware customer organizations. They have been internal champions in their organizations, or worked with VMware to build success stories, act as customer references, given public interviews, spoken at conferences, or were VMUG leaders. A VMware employee reference is recommended if your activities weren’t all in public.

VPN (VMware Partner Network) Path

The VPN Path is for employees of our partner companies who lead with passion and by example, who are committed to continuous learning through accreditations and certifications and to making their technical knowledge and expertise available to many. This can take shape of event participation, video, IP generation, as well as public speaking engagements. A VMware employee reference is required for VPN Path candidates.

Information on vExpert 2014: http://bit.ly/MtDKff

Current 2013 vExperts use the 2014 vExpert Fast Track application at http://bit.ly/1ikZ8hi

2014 vExpert application: http://bit.ly/LMJqB5

Recommend someone apply to become a 2014 vExpert: http://bit.ly/1bobFfF