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test-ESXi-Network

Jul 19, 2017 esxi vmware vcenter powercli

I was lucky enough to take delivery of some new ESXi hosts recently. After installing them in the datacentre, I wanted to test that the network had been patched correctly. This environment is going to have Distributed vSwitches configured, but I wanted to test the physical connectivity before joining them to vCenter- …

ESXi UNMAP not working on Replicated EqualLogic Volume

Nov 10, 2016 vmware esxi equallogic dell

What to do when the VMware vSphere ESXi UNMAP command doesn’t release space on some or all volumes on a Dell EqualLogic SAN array running v8 firmware (may apply to other versions too).

Setting EVC Level on a Cluster with a VCSA and no shared storage

Aug 30, 2016 vmware esxi vcenter

Problem

A second host has been added to a one-node vSphere cluster which has no shared storage and EVC cannot be enabled.

Automated Deployment in the HomeLab- Part 1

Jun 21, 2016 vmware esxi powercli homelab

I’m commencing a project with my HomeLab- I’m going to build a system whereby I can produce custom mini-lab environments by means of a script. There are off the shelf solutions to do this (see AutoLab as an example) but if I build this myself I get something tailored exactly to my needs (and available resources) and …

Timeout Value on vSphere Host Client

May 12, 2016 esxi vmware

If you’re running the HTML ESXi Host Client that comes with version 6.0 Update 2, you may find your screen reverting to the login prompt after only a short period of inactivity. This is because there’s an Application Timeout setting that defaults to 15 minutes. To change this setting login to the host …

ESXi Host Web Client

Mar 26, 2016 vmware esxi

A few days ago I tweeted about managing my ESXi HomeLab from the Xbox. Whilst this is a bit of a novelty (I’m holding out for the Minecraft ESXi plugin fling), it highlights the management possibilities that the new HTML-based (rather than Flash or Windows based) client creates. In addition to working via the Edge …

Home Lab Upgrade to 6.0u2

Mar 18, 2016 vmware esxi powercli

VMware have released vSphere 6.0 Update 2 - this brings with it many new features, but amongst the most exciting for my home lab was the host-based web client. I no longer need to rely on the functionality of the traditional Windows application to manage my virtual environment. Here’s how I installed it:

Home Lab VPN Connection

Feb 15, 2016 vmware openvpn esxi

I wanted to be able to connect to my new home lab from off-premises (that’s a technical way of saying “when I’m not at home”). My solution to this was to setup an Ubuntu VM running OpenVPN, following the comprehensive instructions here and configuring my home broadband router to forward UDP port …

Installing ESXi on the NUC

Feb 12, 2016 intel nuc vmware esxi

Welcome to Part 2 of my Home Lab series (it’s now twice as long!) where I install the Hypervisor. The 6th Generation Intel NUC hardware is all assembled and working, so now it’s time to put some software into the mix.

PowerCLI Snippet- Total Memory Allocation

Jan 20, 2016 esxi vcenter vmware powercli

This PowerShell one liner looks at all the powered on Virtual Machines in a vCenter estate and returns the total memory allocated, rounded to the nearest GB.