Category Archives: Virtualization

vSphere ESXi Host Certificate Status Alarm bulk resolution

Posted on February 15, 2024 by brian.wuchner

In the vSphere UI, some hosts will occasionally trigger an alarm of “ESXi Host Certificate Status”. VMware Skyline has a finding for this issue as well — vSphere-HostCertStatusAlarm. The resolution is typically straightforward, right click the host > certificates > … Continue reading →

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Unlocking Seamless Connectivity with Tailscale

Posted on January 15, 2024 by brian.wuchner

I may bit a bit late to the party, but I recently found out about Tailscale. I was looking for a remote access solution for my lab, which is behind my ISPs Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT). This means I don’t … Continue reading →

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Keeping pihole up to date with Aria Automation Config

Posted on December 27, 2023 by brian.wuchner

I’ve recently begun keeping components of my lab up to date using Aria Automation Config. I’ve scheduled a daily job to inventory Linux packages that need updated and a weekly task to update Linux VMs and reboot if necessary. Both … Continue reading →

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Keeping Linux up to date with Aria Automation Config — part 2

Posted on December 21, 2023 by brian.wuchner

In a recent post (available here), we created a simple Aria Automation Config (formerly SaltStack Config) state file which reported on and applied available Linux OS updates. In this post we’ll revisit a minor change to this state file. After … Continue reading →

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vSphere Custom Images & How to Compare Image Profiles

Posted on November 20, 2023 by brian.wuchner

Occasionally there is a need to create a custom ESXi image as either an installable ISO or a depot/zip bundle. For example, when setting up a new host, you may wish to automatically include specific drivers for a particular network … Continue reading →

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