VM /ETC

Posts Tagged ‘windows’

TrainSignal, makers of popular computer training DVDs and current sponsor of VM /ETC, is not only a great training resource for admins learning VMware vSphere, but now for a limited time you can get a free Server 2008 R2 training DVD with any other DVD purchase. What may not be obvious from the 2008 R2 DVD title (at least it wasn’t to me!) is that scattered in the 6 hours and 12 2008 R2 videos are episodes on how to configure some of the new Microsoft virtualization and Hyper-V features such as Hyper-V dynamic storage and clustering. This DVD training course also explains using the new Remote Desktop Services for creating personal virtual desktops.

What I personally find great about TrainSignal videos is that the training is provided to you in multiple formats – .mp4 (video) and .mp3 (audio) for portable media players, PDFs, as well as DVD. Upload the portable formats to your favorite media player and learn on the road. Print out the PDFs if that’s a better learning style for you.

If you are used to vExpert David Davis training you on the vSphere videos, then you’ll be glad to know Certified Instructor, Benjamin “Coach” Culbertson (MCT, MCITP, MCTS, MCSA, MCDBA, CIW, A+, Net+, MOS) walks you through each 2008 R2 video in the same, easy to follow and learn TrainSignal style.

Check out the rest of this post for the 2008 R2 DVD Course outline and then browse through the many other technology training options from TrainSignal. Make your purchase and get the 2008 R2 DVD for free while the offer lasts! The 2008 R2 DVD is normally a $297 value. 

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I downloaded the Windows 7 beta DVD and decided to install it in a VM. Since I’ve read a few other blog posts where the soon to be released version of the Windows operating system works great as a VM, I decided I’d try it for myself. On my company notebook I run VMware Workstation 6.5 on Microsoft Vista, and I chose to create a guest there first. I’ll probably try VirtualBox on my Ubuntu desktop soon too.

The installation was very simple and uneventful. I used the Workstation Easy Installer feature to pick all of the VM hardware configurations for me. There was very little to do actually. If you have never tried the Easy Install feature of Workstation it is very impressive and makes building VMs so easy that even a caveman could do it. (Maybe I should copy write that saying? )

I’ve documented the install with screen shots in this post in case readers would like to see the process, but honestly it’s straightforward. I’ve added some notes and impressions as well. Read the rest of this entry »

With the expected release of Windows 7 later this year, there is already speculation and rumor that perhaps Microsoft will loosen it’s virtualization licensing policies once again. A much needed move for modern virtual infrastructure in my opinion, Microsoft may finally be abandoning their position that their operating systems must be anchored to physical hardware. I hesitate to truly get excited about this change until it is officially announced, but could this finally be the green light to license VMs individually and independently of the virtualization host’s operating system and hardware? Could it finally be the acceptance of unlimited live migration (VMotion)?

I’ll reference 2 sources for these rumors. The first is Read the rest of this entry »

The article Virtual BlackBerry for Windows Mobile Nearing Release? on Brighthand.com indicates that the technology for running multiple operating systems on mobile phones and handheld devices via virtualization is quickly approaching general availability for the public. Editor Ed Hardy reports that RIM announced this project over 2 years ago, and now recent reports indicate that the expected release will be soon.

Ed writes:

“It will be called the BlackBerry Application Suite, and it will run on some Windows Mobile 6.x Pro devices. In fact, users will have the option to have this suite basically take over their smartphone, with the BlackBerry shell launching when the device is turned on.

It’s a REAL BlackBerry

This virtual environment will have support for BlackBerry email, phone, calendar, address book, tasks, memos, browser, instant messaging, and other applications developed for the BlackBerry
platform, but not video playback.

It will be able to connect to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server for synchronization.”

Check out the rest of the Brighthand.com article for more information.

Regular readers of vmetc.com will recall I have in interest in the evolution of the handheld and have posted my thoughts on this topic before.

If you run the free VMware Server on a Linux host then VMTN Communities user phxrider has created a couple of scripts that can make your life a little easier. Phxrider’s clone and rename scripts automate the process of two administrative tasks that are frankly a burden to do manually. Both VMware Server 1.x or 2.0 do not offer any template or cloning abilities from their respective GUI interfaces, so these scripts are an essential tool to have if you want to duplicate VMs or change the VM’s files to match a renamed directory.

Check out either http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8050 or the VMTN Forum thread at http://communities.vmware.com/thread/168266 to download the scripts. Here’s some brief info from these links:

“The clone script does a straight clone of a VM. It copies the directory, renames the files and tweaks all the text inside the files by using sed to replace the old name with the new one, then sets all the permissions to what they would be if you created a new VM.

The rename script basically does all but copy it. This is handy for if you tried to rename a directory manually or attempted a manual copy and then found it still shows up under the old name in the web console. Remember this one assumes you have already renamed the directory to the new name and it MUST be the same as what you intend for the new name to be.

Both work the same way… scriptname <old name> <new name>”

I am not aware of equivalent scripts for VMware Server hosted on Windows, but if they exist please leave a comment with a link for VM /ETC readers.

The rest of this post is my example of using the clone_vm.sh script to make a template for future VMware Server 2.0 VM cloning. Read the rest of this entry »

This post is a summary of the Microsoft virtualization training and certification options announced along with the availability of Hyper-V Server 2008 last week. There are several free courses to jump start your Hyper-V training and an exam Second Chance offer when testing for certification. I’m trying to be clever and stick to my site theme with the “/ETC” play on words.

Microsoft Helps Customers Overcome Barriers to Virtualization and Get Virtual Now

The press release recaps how CEO Steve Ballmer announced the general availability of Hyper-V Server 2008 “during a TechNet Server and Tools event keynote address in London”. The release also introduces “a new offering of specialized assessment and implementation services available from the Microsoft Services organization that help customers use server virtualization, and separate new training and certifications from Microsoft Learning for IT Professionals.”

For the new services part of the announcement, Rick Becker, vice president of Software and Solutions at Dell, is quoted explaining how Dell is now offering server, storage, and implementation services around Hyper-V and SCVMM.

The new training and certification portion of the release are summarized in the following quote:

“Building on the strength and valued reputation of the Microsoft Certified Professional program, Microsoft is also delivering a new series of global virtualization training and certification offerings for IT professionals covering desktop, server and management environments. Complete details on these programs are available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/virtualization and the Microsoft Learning Community blog at http://blogs.technet.com/mslcommunity/archive/tags/virtualization/default.aspx.”

Following the link to the Microsoft Learning Virtualization Portal provides more details on the free virtualization offerings. I’ve also created a cut and pasted summary of the various links to the Microsoft training and certification information in the rest of this post.

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So everybody and their mother has a virtualization product now. Too bad all the vendors could not standardize on the same key (or key combinations) that releases the mouse from a virtual machine’s (VM) console window. Until that day happens (don’t hold your breath) this post will be my listing of known host key or key combinations by vendor and product for when your mouse is stuck in a VM.

Please leave a comment on any products I have not included and I’ll update the list.

Updated 10.03.08 – corrected key combination for Mac versions and created separate rows for VMware Fusion and Parallels Workstation

One of the posts I used as a research reference was Common Virtualization Keyboard Shortcuts from x86virtualization.com. Check out this post for a complete listing all keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft and VMware products besides the one for escaping the mouse from the VM console.