Category Archives: Scripting

An Unexpected Benefit of Application-Aware Backups: Finding and Fixing Database Bloat

Posted on January 2, 2026 by brian.wuchner

While working on my recent post about why crash-consistent VM backups aren’t always enough, I ran into an unexpected but very useful side effect of adding application-aware database backups. Once I started creating regular database dumps for my phpIPAM instances, … Continue reading →

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Why Crash-Consistent VM Backups Aren’t Always Enough

Posted on December 30, 2025 by brian.wuchner

In lab and small-scale environments, it’s common to rely almost entirely on VM-level backups. That’s exactly how my lab is built: a single virtual machine runs several services I depend on regularly, and it’s protected by a daily, CBT-enabled backup … Continue reading →

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How to use PowerCLI with Federated vCenter Logins

Posted on December 19, 2025 by brian.wuchner

Earlier this year, I created a post about using PowerCLI to connect to an environment that was configured for Entra ID authentication (https://enterpriseadmins.org/blog/scripting/how-to-use-powercli-with-entra-id-federated-vcenter-logins/). I’ve recently deployed VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.1 in a lab, and with the help of a couple … Continue reading →

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Simplifying Certificate Trust in Multi-Lab Environments

Posted on September 14, 2025 by brian.wuchner

In my lab I have a jump box that I typically use for management. It is joined to active directory and automatically trusts my primary CA root certificate. This CA issued the Machine SSL certificate for my vCenter Server, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Lab Infrastructure, Scripting, Virtualization | 1 Comment

Automating vCenter and Host Log Bundle Collection with PowerCLI

Posted on September 2, 2025 by brian.wuchner

Manually collecting log bundles from vCenter and hosts can be repetitive and time-consuming. Here’s how I automated the process with PowerCLI. I wanted a short script that would let me pick a vCenter server, then do the other relevant tasks: … Continue reading →

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