Category Archives: Lab Infrastructure

Are my ESXi hosts sending syslog to Aria Operations for Logs?

I was recently working on an issue where a query in Aria Operations for Logs was not returning an event that I really expected to be present. After a bit of troubleshooting, I found that the ESXi host was sending … Continue reading

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Leveraging VMware Aria Operations for Power Consumption Tracking

I’ve been looking for a good reason to try out the Aria Operations Management Pack Builder, ever since a peer of mine built one for Pi-Hole back in early 2023. One thing that I thought would be of particular interest … Continue reading

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

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

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

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

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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