Category Archives: Virtualization

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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Did You Know VMCA Can Issue Certificates for Other Services?

Posted on September 18, 2025 by brian.wuchner

VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA) is used within vSphere to secure connections between vCenter Server and ESXi hosts, but what if we need certificates for other systems? In a previous post, I used group policy to add the VMCA Root CA … 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 →

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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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