Handy one-liners

Every once in a while you stumble upon a one-liner that you want to remember. So where do you keep those? Here! Clear VCSA Backup History rm /storage/applmgmt/backup_restore/backup-history.json Reset VAMI Update Status rm /etc/applmgmt/appliance/software_update_state.conf Restart Management Agents services.sh restart &tail -f /var/log/jumpstart-stdout.log Finding Templates based on Tag name (Get-Template |…

Using ADFS with vCenter 7

A while ago I wrote an article about using LDAPS to connect vCenter to Active Directory. In that article, I mentioned a second (secure) option to connect to AD: by using ADFS. In this article, I will give you the steps to change your vCenter Identity Provider from Embedded to…

Network Port Diagram vSphere

I was troubleshooting an issue with an ESXi host and Update Manager for which I needed the firewall ports. In KB2131180 you can find a PDF document with a beautiful diagram and reference table. But getting all the required ports between a specific source and destination was not easy. So…

Packer and WinRM – mystery resolved

A while ago I started exploring Hashicorp Packer in order to learn more about a new way of creating Windows template VMs. Traditionally, you create a VM, attach the Windows ISO file and of you go… But with Packer, you can define the whole thing in code and store that…

Using LDAPS with vCenter and AD

Most companies that connect vCenter to Active Directory are using the Integrated Windows Authentication. At least, that’s what I see. But both VMware and Microsoft have announced changes that are going to change the way you connect your vCenter to AD. VMware announced in the vSphere 7 release notes that…