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VMware has officially started registration for VMworld 2008 in Las Vegas, NV. Go to VMworld 2008: Registration - VMware
to register now and get the early bird discount. Be sure to use your existing account at VMworld.com if you have previously attended VMworld Europe 2008 or VMworld 2007. VMware has recognized VMworld veterens in the past by giving away a special gift. I can’t confirm if this is the case this year, but if it is then using an exisiting account is definitely the way to make sure you are on the right list!

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I am headed to San Diego today for VMware Partner Exchange 2008. It should be another great week of learning and networking. I am looking forward most to the hands on labs for Site Recovery Manager, ESXi, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, and Lab Manager. There is also separate technical solution tracks for beginner, intermediate, and advanced breakout sessions. The exhibit pavillion, called the VMware Experience, sounds interesting too. Quoting the event website:

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Did you know you can modify a VI client shortcut so you can enable single sign on to Virtual Center? This is an undocumented feature that many blogs reported on in March, but most credit vinternals.com and the post VirtualCenter 2.5 Passthrough Authentication as the first to report this option.

“At last! VMware have finally added passthrough auth support in VC 2.5, although it is currently classed as experimental. This is something I have been waiting / asking about for quite some time. And even better, it’s on by default! To use it, simply add -passthroughAuth -s vchostname to the end of the shortcut used to launch the VI 2.5 client.

By default it uses the Negotiate SSPI provider, however since they have fully implemented the interface you can change that behaviour to use Kerberos by adding the following within the <vpxd> node in the vpxd.cfg file on the VC server:

<sspiProtocol>Kerberos</sspiProtocol>”

The screenshot of the VI Client shortcut was found at Pass Through Authentication with the VMware VI Client by Diary of a Bad Golfer. Click on it for a larger image.

There is also a VMware Communities thread at How to enable passthrough authentication in VMware VirtualCenter 2.5

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Like all bloggers, I have accumulated a bunch of links in my drafts that are sitting there collecting dust. In an effort to clean some of those drafts out I have combined several online calculators into this post. Each of these calculators can help administrators and IT departments understand and budget for a virtualization project. Enjoy!

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VMworld 2008 will be at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, NV September 15 - 18. You can go to the VMworld 2008 Pre-Registration page to sign up to be notified when official registration is open.

VMware is expecting more than 12,000 attendees this year!

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Looking for an explanation of virtual lab automation and VMware Lab Manager, and better yet, to get a feel for the workflow of creating VM templates and allowing developers and users access to those templates via a web browser? Although the Lab Manager web page provides a wealth of knowledge about virtual lab automation (VLA) and product information, the best quick demonstration I’ve seen is VMware’s Camtasia Studio video. Check out the link for a 5 min overview and demonstration for how Lab Manager allows administrators to provision a Dev and Test environment quickly and easily.

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New ESX 3.0.1 /3.0.2 patches released on 03/06/08. Here’s the email notification I received:

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Subject: ESX Server 3.0.1 / 3.0.2 - New Patches Available
Release Date: 03/06/08
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New patches are available for ESX Server 3.0.1 and ESX Server 3.0.2. Please follow the instructions on the

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I just got back from vacation and wanted to see what has been happening in Cannes at VMWorld Europe. I drove the family to Orlando, FL and “did the Disney thing” for 4 days so I was out of touch. Thanks to blogs like VMTN, NITRO.NL, and virtualization.info I was able to get relatively caught up in a single afternoon.

The first, and most logical place, to start was John Troyer’s VMTN blog. As always, John has done a great job rounding up opinion, news, reactions, and even multimedia covering the event. Scrolling almost to the bottom of the VMTN front page and working my way up walked me through Partner Day on Monday to Day 2 of the Conference on Wednesday.

And we’re off … VMWorld Europe 2008 gave me the link to the recorded keynote webcasts which I listened to in the background while I

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One of the announcements this week from VMworld Europe was that ESX 3i will begin shipping integrated in Dell, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, and IBM industry standard servers in the next 60 days. The following is a VMware VIP Partner Bulletin email I received. Check out the links to the hardware manufacturer’s individual announcements in the body of this email.

Dear Richard,

Today, February 26, 2008 at VMworld Europe, VMware announced agreements with the world’s largest systems providers—Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP and IBM—to embed VMware ESX Server 3i across broad lines of servers to accelerate the proliferation of virtualization across companies ranging from small business to large enterprises. These partners are expected to commence shipping their respective industry-standard servers integrated with VMware ESX Server 3i within the next 60 days.

Last year we previewed this strategy with you when we announced the latest release of VMware Infrastructure 3 and ESX 3i. Combined, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP and IBM accounted for

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Sometimes you need to access a windows share from an ESX server. Usually this is the case when need to transfer downloaded files such as scripts and patches to ESX, or if you want to transfer files from ESX like the diagnostic package generated for VMware support. This post explains how to create a mount point on the ESX host that is mapped to a Windows share.

In a similar post titled Create a NFS share for VM ISO files with Windows 2003 Server R2 I referenced vmware-land.com’s VMware Tips for ESX. I am referencing that site again for this post. The following instructions are also taken from the tip on creating an ISO mount point that points to a Windows server. The goal of the example instructions below is to add a sub directory to the ESX /vmimages directory that stores cdrom images for VMs:

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I am certainly not the first to talk about the differences between VMware Workstation, VMware Server and VMware Player. However, this topic of conversation continues to come up. “Why should I buy VMware Workstation when I can download Server or Player for free?” There are some key differences between the products that you should understand before you decide which is right for you.

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It’s great to see the recent positive changes to the VMware Partner program. As the competition enters the market, VMware realizes that who better to help continue growth and capture the untapped market share than the services organizations that are already implementing and supporting the VMware products in the field. In my experience, VMware has always “talked the talk” about enabling the partner channel, but not necessarily “walked the walk” when it came time to ensure margin and protecting the deal.

Internally, Partner Channel Managers have reduced their accounts and are focusing on building better relationships with a smaller group of partners. Externally VMware has announced some exciting new benefits for members of the Partner Program. VMware Unveils Major Program Enhancements for its Nearly 10,000 Virtualization Channel Partners was a news release last week from VMware that promises better profitability, training, marketing and support. From the release:

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