VMworld 2019 Europe is finally upon us. See below for the links to my posts from VMworld 2019, my fourth VMworld in Barcelona!
Written by Christopher Lewis on October 28, 2019 .
Make Your Mark
It is that time again! VMworld 2019 in Barcelona is just around the corner and this year it is all about being ready to #MakeYourMark.
This year will be my fourth year attending the EMEA based conference and it will also be my first whilst working at VMware. This year I will be working as a Proctor in the uber coolness that is the on-site VMware Hands on Lab .
Written by Christopher Lewis on October 24, 2019 .
Goodbye Wordpress and Hello! Hugo
I have been using WordPress ever since I started my blog in 2016 and whilst it was a great platform to start blogging with, after 3 years I wanted something more from my blog.
Reasons for Change
My reasons for changing my blog was:
- Speed - The blog was incredibly slow to load and was not giving the sort of performance I wanted.
- Offline Blogging - I always found WordPress easy to use but I disliked the new interface and found it difficult to be able to write blogs offline.
- Cost - I was using a WordPress hosting company and that was costing me a reasonable amount of money. I’m hoping Hugo and AWS will reduce my annual bill!
- Learning Opportunity - Changing my blog to be written in Hugo and markdown gives me a reason to go back to my university roots where I was writing a web pages in HTML but also learn a new platform like Hugo!
- Learning Git - Having written the blog in Hugo and markdown, I’m storing my work in Github and this is giving me a real reason to get to know how to use Git!
What is next?
I am still ironing out a few kinks in the blog. I have a list of things I still need to sort out and this will take some time but I’m working on it! These items includes:
Written by Christopher Lewis on October 14, 2019 .
TL:DR - Achievements/Goals are like buses it seems
There have been a few Achievements / Goals Unlocked in the last few months. So rather than multiple individual posts I thought I would capture them here:
- Learn more about vRealize Operations Manager.
- Speak at a Tech Conference.
- Obtain vExpert Cloud Management designation.
- Retain vExpert NSX designation.
- Pass the VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC Management 2019 Exam.
- Pass the vRealize Operations 7.5 Specialist exam.
Let us dive a little deeper into each one!
Written by Christopher Lewis on July 24, 2019 .
VMware VMware Cloud on AWS VMware EMpower vRealize Operations Cloud Management
The VMware vExpert Cloud Management 2019 announcement has been released, and I am truly humbled to be recognised for community contributions in the cloud management space.
I can’t wait to see what cool stuff this new sub-designation brings to the #vCommunity!
Written by Christopher Lewis on July 19, 2019 .
Cloud Management vExpert vExpert Cloud Management vRealize Operations vROps
Out of the blue this week, I had a query from a colleague about being able to update the vCenter License key programmatically via PowerShell/PowerCLI. This is something I have done before so luckily I had a script.
Written by Christopher Lewis on June 14, 2019 .
Introduction
In this really short blog post we’re going to be showing the step by step process of upgrading your existing deploy of VMware vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager (vRSLCM) to the latest version (which at the time of writing is v2.1).
Why upgrade to vRSLCM 2.1?
- You can now manage the lifecycle of a VMware Identity Manager provider (i.e. change the vIDM configuration settings!).
- You can now remove single components/applications from a deployment without having to delete the whole deployment.
- You can now define product level certificates for vRealize Automation (i.e. separate IaaS Web and IaaS Manager certificates).
Full release notes for VMware vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 2.1 can be found here .
Written by Christopher Lewis on May 3, 2019 .
This is the sixth post in a series of posts covering the replacement of vRealize Automation SSL Certificates. In this post, we will tackle the replacement of the vRealize Automation Appliance VAMI Site Certificate.
This post is based on the VMware procedure and this is documented here .
Prerequisites
The following are expected prerequisites for this walkthrough:
- A fully deployed and working vRealize Automation solution.
- A set of certificate files:
- The RSA Private Key used to encrypt the vRA Appliance certificate.
- The Root CA Certificate file.
- The vRA Appliance Certificate file.
- The new Server.PEM file.
- The Root CA Certificate and any Subordinate/Intermediate CA Certificates are installed within the appropriate Certificate store on the local machine (normally the Trusted Root Certification Authorities and the Intermediate Certification Authority respectively).
The Problem
The issue we see is that when you browse to https://vra.fqdn:5480, the site is untrusted.
Written by Christopher Lewis on April 7, 2019 .
It has been nearly 20 years since I was last in Bristol, but on Wednesday 20th March I attended and presented at the UK ’s South West VMUG to a small but engaging crowd of IT professionals with a shared interest in VMware products.
Who are the UK South West VMUG?
The South West VMUG ( @swukvmug ) may not be the biggest VMware User Group in the UK (with about 20-30 people), but the calibre of the leadership team ( Barry Coombs , Megan Warren , Simon Eady and Jeremy Bowman ) meant the day was always going to be a success for its attendees.
Written by Christopher Lewis on March 22, 2019 .
Introduction
I truly believe there is a not-so-exact science behind taking exams. In this post I’m going to share with you the tips and strategies I use to ensure maximum success when taking multiple-choice exams.
Note: This post is NOT about minimising study effort, it is about maximising effectiveness on the day of the exam. Every good (400+) score I have achieved has a foundation of hard work and sacrifice attached to it. There is no substitute for that.
Written by Christopher Lewis on February 28, 2019 .
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 3: Creating a Pricing Card in VMware Aria Automation
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 2: Creating a Pricing Card in VMware Aria Operations
- Operating a Private Cloud - Part 1: Understanding Pricing Cards in VMware Aria
- Zero2Hero - Using Aria Automation to Deploy Multiple Machines with Multiple Disks - Part 5
- Zero2Hero - Using Aria Automation to Deploy Multiple Machines with Multiple Disks - Part 4