Author Archives: brian.wuchner

Verify VAAI settings with PowerCLI

I recently had a need to validate that all hosts in a specific vCenter had appropriate vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI) settings. I didn’t want to change the values, I was just looking for the existing values. This short … Continue reading

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Creating and Reviewing Windows crash dumps in VMware virtual machines

The other day I was assisting a co-worker who needed a memory dump of a Windows virtual machine. He was working with Microsoft support and the support engineer mentioned that the process for gathering this data was different since we … Continue reading

Posted in Virtualization | 2 Comments

Disable SSL for VMware Converter 5 using powershell

Starting with VMware Converter Standalone 5.0, the default action is to secure the P2V data with SSL. While this is nice if you are converting machines across an untrusted network or need the additional level of security, it can really … Continue reading

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Why does the ‘Update Tools’ button not work from within VMware Tools?

I recently upgraded an ESXi 4.1 Update 1 cluster to ESXi 5.0 Update 1 — but have not upgraded the tools yet. One of the Windows admins I work with mentioned that he noticed a development guest needed a tools … Continue reading

Posted in Scripting, Virtualization | 6 Comments

Use PowerCLI to mark disk as as SSD

I’ve recently been working with a few new ESXi hosts. These systems have a pair of solid state disks that I planned to use for host cache. However, ESXi 5.0 did not detect these disks as an SSD type. I … Continue reading

Posted in Scripting, Virtualization | 2 Comments