Author Archives: brian.wuchner

Step-by-Step: Installing Ubuntu 24.04 on a Raspberry Pi for DNS and NTP

Posted on October 31, 2024 by brian.wuchner

In my home network, I have a Raspberry Pi4 which provides DNS (pi-hole) and NTP (chrony). Its a device that I don’t touch often and is a ‘production’ type service — in my lab I don’t mind blowing up / … Continue reading →

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Automating Cluster Management with Aria Operations API

Posted on October 17, 2024 by brian.wuchner

As part of routine maintenance, it is sometimes necessary to take an Aria Operations cluster offline. For example, it is recommended to take the cluster offline to perform backups (https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Aria-Operations/8.12/Best-Practices-Operations/GUID-1D058B4A-93BA-44D1-8794-AE8E1B96B3E4.html). Since most folks want to schedule backups, it is important … Continue reading →

Posted in Lab Infrastructure, Scripting, Virtualization | 1 Comment

Scaling Your Tests: How to Set Up a vCenter Server Simulator

Posted on October 11, 2024 by brian.wuchner

I’ve recently been testing a handful of reporting tools against vCenter Server endpoints. I have several lab instances for various major releases, which allow me to test a wide range of configurations. However, there are some tests that are hard … Continue reading →

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Automate workaround for ESX Admins group

Posted on August 30, 2024 by brian.wuchner

In a recent security advisory (VMSA-2024-0013), there is a workaround listed for hosts older than ESXi 8.0u3 (https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/369707). This knowledge base article lists a few advanced settings and an esxcli command which can be ran to apply this workaround. Setting … Continue reading →

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Troubleshooting vCenter permission errors

Posted on August 15, 2024 by brian.wuchner

I was recently helping troubleshoot an issue where a service account was configured with the least privileges possible. When the service attempted to perform a specific operation, an access denied message was encountered. The service performing this action immediately cleaned … Continue reading →

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