Announcing the General Availability of VMware vCenter Server 7.0 U3g

As of July 23, 2022, VMware has officially released vSphere version 7.0 U3g. The vCenter 7.0 U3g release specifically addresses an issue seen in 7.0 U3f for users where the vCenter is or was previously joined to an Active Directory domain that used Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA) as an identity source.

VMware KB 89027 addresses the issue and associated workarounds in much more detail, but that’s the big item that is addressed in this particular release.

Please note: VMware ESXi 7.0 U3g wasn’t included as part of this release announcement. As of this writing, this U3g update applied to vCenter Server only.

vCenter Server 7.0 U3g | Build 20150588

Release Notes: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-70u3g-release-notes.html
Documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/index.html
Download: https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/7_0

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Friendly Reminder: VMware vSphere 6.5 and 6.7 EoGS

Greetings, everyone! I wanted to post a friendly reminder to the greater VMware and vExpert Community that there are exactly three months left before vSphere 6.5 and 6.7 reaches end of general support (EoGS) on October 15, 2022. VMware vSphere 7.0 was officially released in April 2020, and it’s hard to believe that it’s been available for just over two years now. From personal experience the, the newer 7.0 U3c+ releases have been a lot more stable and resilient compared to the GA/U1/U2 releases.

In any event, if you’ve not yet started planning your vSphere upgrade to 7.0, please be sure to work with your VMware TAM or account team, check hardware compatibility lists (HCL), upgrade/interop matrices, etc. as upgrade guidance can vary based on the release, hardware, and other integrated products that you’re upgrading from.

You can read more about VMware’s EoGS announcement on their blog.

Personal Goals for 2022

Goals have been updated as of July 27, 2022.

It’s been quite some time (too long, in fact) since I’ve published anything to my personal blog. I remember thinking back in late 2019 that with my new TAM role at VMware, I was going to have the additional time needed to work on creating new content for the #vCommunity, both on this blog and over on my YouTube channel, as well. Unfortunately, I haven’t been very disciplined in that regard, as I’ve had maybe one or two blog posts since then. I also see that my last “Personal Goals” blog post was back from 2019.

With this being the start of a new year, however, I really want to try and get back into creating more content for 2022. My hope is that putting this post out into the world, I’ll hold myself more accountable by sticking with it. Here are some of my other personal goals for this coming year:

✅ Maintain VCP-DCV Certification for 2022 [Completed]

✅ Maintain vExpert status for 2022 [Completed]

✅ Present at another local VMUG meeting [Completed]

⚪️ Create and publish at least 10-20 (or more) new blog posts in 2022

⚪️ Create and publish at least five new YouTube videos

⚪️ Participate in Blogtober, where bloggers create five new blog posts in the month of October

⚪️ Reach 40 hours of community service

At the time this post was published, the applications for the VMware vExpert program are currently open through 28-JAN-2022. If you have questions about the program, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or other vExperts in the community for help. I also encourage anyone who’s currently a vExpert to get their applications in or updated before the deadline. (Even if you’ve not been able to contribute much to the community this year).

I’ll be sure to check back and update this post throughout the year. As always, I appreciate you reading and stopping by!

VMware vForum Online 2019

If you weren’t able to make it to VMworld US earlier this year, be sure to mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 16th for VMware vForum Online 2019.

What is vForum Online?

VMware vForum Online is a like a mini-VMworld, except that it’s 100% online and doesn’t require all the travel (or travel planning). The day starts with an opening keynote by VMware’s CEO Pat Gelsinger on ‘Tech in the Age of Any.’ Afterwards, there are over thirty (30) breakout sessions to choose from that focus on these three categories: Accelerating Your Cloud Journey, Transforming Networking & Security, and Empowering the Digital Workspace. In addition to the breakout sessions, there are opportunities to chat with fellow VMware experts or choose from a number of related Hands-On Labs. The full agenda can be found here.

My Personal Experience

When it comes to vForum Online, I like to block off my day as if I were heading to a training or other conference event. I set my out of office for the day and find a quiet spot where I can truly attend the online breakout sessions with very little distractions.

Even though I attended VMworld earlier this year, there is A LOT of activity that can pull you away from attending the breakout sessions live and in-person. Sure, they’re recorded, but I find it’s even harder to commit the necessary time to sit down and truly catch up on the sessions I missed or wanted to see. Enter vForum Online.

Although the breakout sessions are streamed virtually, there are still opportunities to ask questions to the moderators and/or presenters. If there isn’t a breakout session that interests you for a particular time slot, head over to the Hands-on Labs and take a test drive of a technology you’ve been meaning to try or learn.

There’s plenty of great content to choose from, too. It’s not all just about Kubernetes, containers, and cloudy things. In looking at the agenda, there are several breakout sessions (and labs) covering vSAN, NSX, vROps, Horizon, Workspace One, Security, and Hyper-converged Infrastructure (HCI).

How Can I Attend?

That’s easy! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 16th from 12:00 – 6:00 EDT (UTC -4) and be sure to register using the link below! Even if you can’t make it for the entire day, at least register and attend the one or two breakout sessions that interest you the most. I look forward to seeing you there!

Register here for VMworld vForum Online 2019!

My Personal Goals for 2019

So… I’m REALLY behind in getting this post published! Last year, I my “Goals for 2018” post was written and published by the 2nd week of January. This year, however, I’ve clearly fallen behind in getting this post out to the world. (BIG ‘Whoops’). It’s been in a draft state since mid- January, but I never took the time to sit down and put the rest of the post together. But, better late than never I suppose.

Last year, I missed the mark on a few of my goals, and I hope this post continues to serve as a reminder of what I hope to accomplish this year. As a matter of fact, because I waited so long to get this post published, I’ve actually accomplished two of the six goals listed, already.

Following-Up on My 2018 Goals

Near the start of 2018, I wrote a blog post titled, “New Year, New Goals.” In that post, I listed my top four personal goals that I wanted to achieve for the year. This post is a follow-up to summarize how I did for the year. I’m not here to make excuses for why some goals weren’t met — I’m just being transparent about how I did with each of the goals I had set out to achieve at the beginning of 2018.

❌ Obtain My VCP-DCV 6.5

Welp, I definitely fell short on this one. I took a crack at this exam back in May, and for my first-ever attempt, I got a 290, however a minimum score of 300 is required to pass. I was so crushed, but knew I wasn’t going to let this get me down! I studied more, read more online documentation, and even took a series of Hands-on-Labs.

After VMWorld US had wrapped up, I gave it another shot in October. Again, I fell just short with a score of 285. I honestly don’t know how I did worse, but I did. My goal was to give it another shot before the end of the year, however I waited too long to schedule a time slot. By the time I felt ready to schedule, the remaining exam dates for December had filled up! So, it looks like I’ll have to give it another shot in 2019, and it looks like this goal will be on the list again for next year.

Achievement Unlocked! VMware vExpert 2018

Hello again, everyone! Last Friday, I hit a rather significant milestone in my career as an IT professional, as I made the cut for the VMware vExpert advocacy program for 2018! As exciting as it was to receive this news, I actually didn’t find out until about two hours after the announcements were made. Why the long delay? Well, here’s what happened…

The Announcement

I actually got a phone call from to go check my email, as the vExpert announcement emails were starting to go out. I immediately checked my corporate email, but didn’t see anything. So, I began checking my personal email accounts, and I didn’t see anything there either. I figured maybe there was a delay of some sort and I’d check back in 15-30 minutes to be safe. Well, I checked again, but I still didn’t see any announcement email in any of my accounts. Now, I was beginning to think that I honestly didn’t make it!