VMware vSphere Client on Microsoft Windows 7!
May 29, 2009 Blogs
Heiko Verlande has found a way to run the VMware vSphere Client on Windows 7. Too bad this howto is in Dutch, many people could benefit from this information. That’s why I’ve create a simplified translation of his post. Find Heiko’s original post here: VMware vSphere client op Windows 7 (build 7127).
Running the vSphere Client on Windows 7
- Copy System.dll (%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\) from a non-Windows 7 system with Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 installed to the Windows 7 system (or download it from Heiko’s site).
- Place the file in C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib\.
- Edit the VpxClient.exe.config file (C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\). Add the following:
<runtime> <developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/> </runtime>
- Add the DEVPATH variable via Control Panel → System → Advanced System Settings → Environment Variables to the User Variables. Reboot after these steps.
DEVPATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib
Update
A lot of people commented on this post, that even after applying this workaround, the vSphere Client still doesn’t work. Michaelm comments on the problem: please make sure you re-type the quotation marks after copy/pasting above information into VpxClient.exe.config. The quotation marks get screwed up by the layout on the blog.
Secondly, make sure you add the DEVPATH variable to User Variables and reboot afterwards. This will let you run the vSphere Client as a normal user.
Joep Piscaer is going to deliver VMware workshops!
May 28, 2009 Blogs
Beginning in June, Joep Piscaer (thats me!) is going to deliver workshops about VMware vSphere and virtualization to customers. The goal of these workshops is to get (potential) customers warmed up for virtualization with VMware.This is in no way a preparation for the VMware vSphere 4: Install, Configure and Manager training needed to take the VCP4 exam, but rather is targeted at customers (both technical administrators and managers) to get a general idea about the techniques and advantages. In a way, our workshop can be used as a preparation for the ICM training.
I’ve been delivering similar (although more technical) workshops for employees of OGD for over three years now, covering subjects like Novell eDirectory and ZENworks (yes, I am a Novell Certified Engineer, who saw that coming), VMware Infrastructure 3 and vSphere 4, Site Recovery Manager, Microsoft Hyper-V and the basics of shared storage and SAN systems.
Jeroen van Meeuwen, a collegue of mine and a Red Hat Certified Engineer of the Year, will be deliverin a similar workshop, concentrating on Free and Open Source Software and its implication on IT. To quote Jeroen van Meeuwen on this very subject:
OGD is a medium to large sized consultancy company, and we’ve been around for over 22 years now. Since then, Operator Groep Delft has grown into a company with 700 employees servicing even more customers continiously and efficiently given the amount of knowledge available within the company and the very open culture. The very unique concept of OGD attracts ambitious, passionate and intelligent young people, and allows them to rapidly learn and experience Information and Communication Technology in all it’s aspects, whether it be on the deeply technical side, or in ICT (project-)management, or anything in between, over the complete spectrum of technologies including, amongst others, Networking & Security, Programming and Web-technology, Service and Project Management, Novell, Microsoft, Virtualisation and Linux & UNIX.
Just to show how powerful the OGD formula is, let me tell you that as a result of what OGD does and how it does so, the person we regard to as our Microsoft guru internally, Sander Berkouwer, has been awarded the title of Microsoft Most Valued Professional, Directory Services. Then, to top that off with a little bit of sweet cream, look at Joep Piscaer, the man to go to and ask about all the dirty little secrets of Virtualization, now a VMWare vExpert no less. Putting one of those figuratively speaking cherries on top of this icecream is me, having been awarded Red Hat Certified Engineer of the Year (Europe, 2008), at the Red Hat Summit in Boston.
This, and purely this, defines Operator Groep Delft as the company employing the largest number of employees being awarded the most significant type of endorsements by Microsoft, VMWare and last but most certainly not least, Red Hat, in at least the Netherlands, as far as I know. This should tell you something, and I’ve not even started describing the rest of the field of awesome Senior Engineers or the OGD Alumni -of which there are many- and the great positions that they now occupy within the ICT industry, having been given the opportunity by OGD.
As a Microsoft, Citrix and VMware Partner, OGD targets all types of virtualization (server-, desktop-, application- and deliveryvirtualization), and can provide services for design, implementation as well as administion of VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V and System Center (Virtual Machine Manager) and Citrix XenServer.
For all of you capable of reading the Dutch language please visit the website ‘OGD Workshops‘!
Running an ESX4 cluster on your laptop
May 25, 2009 Blogs
Imagine this:
You need to persuade a potential client to use the latest and greatest VMware products. You feel confident that if you demonstrate features like VMotion, HA, VMware Data Recovery and the Cisco Nexus 1000v, you’ll win ‘em over.
I’ve been trying to implement such a infrastructure at reasonable cost for a long time now. Using physical servers and infrastructure and accessing it through the Internet (using an access gateway like the Citrix Web Interface or using browser based VMware View) is a costly venture, as you’ll need hardware (including a rack, cooling, servers, shared storage, network infrastructure, not to mention power) and software licenses (including VMware, Microsoft Windows and software for access via the Internet). This doesn’t even include the costs for designing and implementing such an environment and problems you could run into when using the customers’ Internet connection and computer systems.
PHD Virtual confirmes vSphere, Hyper-V and Xen support for esXpress
May 11, 2009 Blogs
After the recent announcement of esXpress version 3.5 (read up on it here), my accountmanager for PHD Virtual products at Sunstream came over to give me the details of the new product. A couple of great new features are implemented in this new release:
- a fresh new GUI (managable trough a webpage, finally!);
- a vCenter plugin for management and the backup console;
- deduplication of all data, not just individual disk files for even greater savings;
- a multi-user inferface, allowing user to restore their own data;
- some shifting in their license model, losing the free version, and eliminated the cheapest option.
