Roger Lund

http://bagside.com/bagvapp/ has a fantastic collection of self published VMware Virtual Appliances located @ http://bagside.com/bagvapp/

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Virtual Appliance Repository.

RSS feed for bagvapp.com

This site is dedicated to virtual appliances that we build for you to use FREE of charge.The virtual appliances are generally normal installs of the distro with some changes/updates and customizations by us.
bagvapp wiki.

* bagvapps are built for use on MS Windows OS’s in general
* They also work on Linux distros (Linux host/Linux guest).
* We only test on XPSP2-3 and Vista Ultimate.
* We allocate between 384-968MB RAM for the appliance.
* This mean that you need TWICE as much of physical RAM on your machine
* Each appliance needs between 2.0-6.0GB of space on your HD
* All our appliances have the latest WMware Tools installed
* Ethernet connection is set to NAT unless specified otherwise.
* USB and CD/DVD are enabled. Floppy and serial/parallel ports are disabled.
* Floppy and serial/parallell ports are disabled by default.(Can be reactivated).
* Screen resolution varies but is mostly Dynamic (default=1152×864). Drag the vm-frame to resize.
* Some settings can be edited in a normal text editor by opening the *.vmx file
* NOTE!! Appliance spec., passwords etc. are included in the compressed download as a README.txt.

IMPORTANT!! Mirroring or direct linking to the appliances on our fileservers is NOT permitted. All links should point to “http://bagside.com “,”http://bagvapp.com ” or “http://bagside.com/bagvapp “

PLEASE link to us wherever you can. Buttons and banners are available …HERE…

FEED-BACK!! It would be highly appreciated if you could send us a mail with a short information of the appliance(s) you have tried, how it works and on what platform (host OS and machine) you used. Please contact us at “[email protected]” Thank you.

HELP!! We need sponsors for our appliances as the downloading is now abt. 7000 GB/mnth or abt. 8000 appliances/mnth. Please contact us at “[email protected]” if you can assist. Let us know if you have any proposals or make a donation of any size by using the support button. Thank you

General
All appliances have been compiled with VMwareTools installed allowing for movement of the mouse freely between host/guest, dynamic screen-resolution, cut/paste and drag/drop between host/guest is tested and works unless otherwise specified. ALL our appliances (bagvapps) are slightly customized with our own wallpapers and desktop set-ups mainly to suit our own taste and for branding.

We test each and every appliance on 2 different computers and 3 host platforms (FSC Scaleo H -Intel D, 3GB RAM with XPSP2-3 and Acer Ferrari Laptop (AMD 64) 1.25GB with Vista Ultimate).

The bagvapps works on VMware Player 2 series and Workstation 5-6 series. We do NOT test on VMware Server and have reports that in some cases there are problems to get appliances working there.

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Some of the newer releases are as follows.

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bagluX-PE1 Desktop Preview bagluX-PE1 image
Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS based remix by bagvapp specifically for Programmers who would like to test applications. The appliance is loaded with IDE’s, RAD’s, Programmers Editors for C, Phyton, Gtk, .NET, Java and much more. A separate page with screenshots and loads of info has been set-up for you and I need your feed-back if you would be so kind to test it.

READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE…

bagluX-SM1 Desktop Preview bagluX-SM1 image
Xubuntu 8.04.1 LTS based remix by bagvapp specifically geared for Stock Markets and Equity traders or users who would like to test applications within this market segment. Why?? Simply because there are very few if any distros or appliances available in this segment and as I work part-time for an Equity fund who solely uses MS Windows for all their/my work I wanted to see if it was possible to create a Linux desktop which could serve me reasonable well. A separate page with screenshots and loads of info has been set-up for you and I need your feed-back if you would be so kind to test it.

READ ALL ABOUT IT HERE…

Sidux 2008-4 Desktop Preview Sidux image
Based on Debian SID with Kernel 2.6.27.10 and Xfce 4.4.2 DE. Some build-tools and VMwareTools 7.8.4-125130 are installed. Release date 23/12/2008. The physical disk is 12GB whereoff 1.7 GB is used for the appliance. The download is 355 MB and RAM set at 528 MB. Works very nicely and is one the fastest distros ever built. The actual booting time on my main machine is just under 30 seconds. Amazing! …DOWNLOAD

nUbuntu 8.10b Desktop Preview nUbuntu image
Ubuntu 8.10 remaster loaded with Security tools for Bluetooth, Cisco, Scanners, Password, Exploits, Database, Fuzzers, Enum, VoiP and Wireless. Some build-tools and VMwareTools 7.8.4-125130 are installed. Release date 17/12/2008. The physical disk is 9GB whereoff 2.7 GB is used for the appliance. The download is 566 MB and RAM set at 548 MB. Works very nicely and is fast and very responsive with it’s Fluxbox desktop. …DOWNLOAD

openSUSE 11.1 Desktop Preview openSUSE image
Final version of the openSUSE 11.1 (based on the CD install) with GNOME 2.24.1. Kernel-source, kernel-syms, build-tools and VMwareTools 7.8.4-125130 are installed. Release date 18/12/2008. openSUSE is ranked no.2 on Distrowatch. The physical disk is 20GB whereoff 3.5 GB is used for the appliance. The download is 775 MB and RAM set at 548 MB. Nice, stable and pleasant. …DOWNLOAD

LinuxMint 6 Desktop Preview Linumint 6 image
The latest LinuxMint aka ‘Felicia’ with Gnome 2.24 DE. Occupies 2.9 GB on disk of a virtual dynamic disk of 20 GB. 588 MB RAM allocated and the download is 584 MB. Fully upgraded on the 18th of December. Released on the 15th of December. Works well here although on a personal note I have never understood why this Ubuntu remix/remaster gets the credit it does. For me Ubuntu originals are in fact better performers in every aspect. …DOWNLOAD

Slackware 12.2 Desktop Preview Slackware 12.2 image
The latest Slackware with no less than 3 configured desktops, KDE 3.5.10, FluxBox 1.1.1 and WindowMaker 0.92. Select desktop at the LOGIN screen. Occupies 5 GB only on disk of a virtual dynamic disk of 20 GB. 588 MB RAM allocated and the download is 1.1 GB. Works well here and if you wish to try different Dekstops here is your chance. Enjoyed this myself actually although Slackware means slightly more work when installing VMwareTools etc….DOWNLOAD
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Since these are ready to use, I urge some of you to get out there and try these out.

Thanks to Bagside for their work.

http://bagside.com/bagvapp/

http://technodrone.blogspot.com has posted a link to a free Ebook, grab it up.

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Microsoft have published a new book – granted it is on Virtualization – the Microsoft way, but still should be something to go over.

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization

This is the book for IT professionals who want to learn more about the latest Microsoft virtualization technologies, including Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization, and Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

The book also examines other virtualization-enabling technologies from Microsoft including Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, Roaming User Profiles, Folder Redirection, and Offline Files.

Download here

Source post was here http://technodrone.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-free-ebook.html

I wanted to wish all the viewer’s a Happy Holiday’s. I also wanted to thank everyone for viewing the Blog. I hope everyone has a Fantastic Holiday, and a Happy New Year!

Roger L

blog.scottlowe.org reports random reboots, check out this Blog Post : Random Reboots with VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3

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I’ve been communicating with a reader who is experiencing random reboots of virtual machines on his HA/DRS-enabled cluster running VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3. At first, I thought his problem was related to the bug with VM failure monitoring that I discussed here, but upon further discussion the random reboots are continuing to occur even when VM failure monitoring is disabled. The only relief the reader has been able to find thus far has been to completely disable VMware HA on his cluster, which—to be honest—is a less than acceptable solution.

After a little bit of digging around, I turned up this VMware Communities thread, in which several other users also indicate they are seeing the same kinds of problems. The thread closes out by referencing this post by Duncan Epping regarding the VM failure monitoring bug. Clearly, though, this bug should not be affecting users who do not have VM failure monitoring enabled. I also found this blog post about another user having the issue, although it sounds like his problem was solved by disabling VM failure monitoring.

Further research turned up this KB article on a post-Update 3 patch that may address some of the random reboot issues. Judging from the KB article, it looks like the random reboots may be caused due to an unexpected interaction between VMotion and an option to automatically upgrade VMware Tools. This is just speculation, of course, but the symptoms seem to fit.

Have any other users out there experienced this problem? If so, what was the fix, if any? It sounds like there may be more to this issue than perhaps I first suspected.

Thanks for this update, if this is a problem, we need to know about it.

Full Post : http://blog.scottlowe.org/2008/12/23/random-reboots-with-vmware-esx-35-update-3/

http://www.yellow-bricks.com has a blog titled : Heap size VMFS3

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Posted by Duncan Epping in December 19th, 2008

I was talking to a fellow consultant today. He ran into the following error messages at one of his customer sites:

vmkernel: 8:18:59:58.640 cpu2:1410)WARNING: Heap: 1370: Heap_Align(vmfs3, 4096/4096 bytes, 4 align) failed. caller: 0×8fdbd0
vmkernel: 8:18:59:58.640 cpu2:1410)WARNING: Heap: 1266: Heap vmfs3: Maximum allowed growth (24) too small for size (8192)

During the conversation I knew I’d seen this problem before. But the problem that I witnessed was related to a high threshold value in Vizioncore vFoglight. I knew it was possible to change the setting:

1. Open vCenter, and click a specific host
2. Click on the “Configurations” tab
3. Click on Advanced Settings, VMFS3
4. Change the value of “VMFS3.MaxHeapSizeMB”

The default value is 16MB, this allows for a maximum of 4TB of open vmdk’s on a single host. The max setting is 128MB which allows for a maximum of 32TB of open vmdk’s on a single host. Keep this in mind when designing your environment.

Keep in mind that this is ESX 3.5 only, you can’t change the heap size in ESX 3.0.x.
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Looked like something that we could all run into.

Full Post http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2008/12/19/heap-size-vmfs3

Microsoft has a new Security Advisory : Microsoft Security Advisory (961040)

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Microsoft is investigating new public reports of a vulnerability that could allow remote code execution on systems with supported editions of Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE 2000), Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (WMSDE), and Windows Internal Database (WYukon). Systems with Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack 4, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 3, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 are not affected by this issue.

Microsoft is aware that exploit code has been published on the Internet for the vulnerability addressed by this advisory. Our investigation of this exploit code has verified that it does not affect systems that have had the workarounds listed below applied. Currently, Microsoft is not aware of active attacks that use this exploit code or of customer impact at this time

Please refer to the following link for more information.

Full Post http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/961040.mspx

http://www.mikedipetrillo.com has a blog write up on Microsoft, and them fibbing about their licensing Titled : Microsoft Lies to Their Customers – Again

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Over the past couple of weeks I’ve seen a trend at customer sites. Nearly every customer I visited in the New York city area told me the same thing when the competition was brought up.
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So for those playing along at home. Here’s the part where I show you where to find the correct information on Microsoft’s site.



Windows Server 2008: Microsoft Licensing FAQ for Windows Server 2008 clearly states the following.

Q. Do the virtualization licensing rights of Windows Server 2008 apply when used with non-Microsoft software virtualization technologies?

A: Yes. The use rights apply regardless of the virtualization product being used.

Windows Server 2003: Page 7 of the “Licensing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 to Run with Virtualization Technologies” document also states the following.

If you have assigned a single license of Windows Server Standard Edition to the server running ESX, then you may run one instance at a time of Windows Server Standard Edition. If you have assigned a single license of Windows Server Enterprise Edition to the server running ESX, then you may run up to four instances at a time of Windows Server. You may not run a fifth instance under the same Enterprise Edition license because that right requires that the fifth instance be running hardware virtualization software and software managing and servicing the OSEs on the server. However, Datacenter Edition permits unlimited running of instances in virtual OSEs.

Thanks Mike, always looking out for us.

Full Post : http://www.mikedipetrillo.com/mikedvirtualization/2008/12/microsoft-lies-to-their-customers-again.html

http://www.hypervizor.com has a nice Video titled : Video Tutorial: VMware SRM : 01 Installation

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This is the first video tutorial in a series to come for VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM), one of the most interesting and efficient products from VMware. It’s my very first video in my blog also so please leave your comments and let me know your opinion. Don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS feed to be notified in time for future videos.
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Check it out.