Access the VCSA shell and log in as a user who has a super administrator role such as ‘root’.
Begin by creating a group for the user in this example the group and user are both named ‘management’.
Use -h if you wish to expand the cmd options:
SUSE Linux – Using ‘pam_tally2’ to reset user account due to failed logins
Due to repeated failed login attempts via SSH a user account may get locked out. The following provides steps on how to reset the account.
If this is the only account you have access via SSH you may need to open the VM console via ESXi/vCenter:
VxRail iDRAC – ESXi Shell Access via DCUI
A very useful benefit of iDRAC Console is that it allows you access to ESXi DCUI thus providing access to the ESXi Shell. The following steps provide detail on how to gain such access to the ESXi Shell which is disabled by default. Of course there are other methods of accessing shell, but it maybe beneficial for example when all your lab VM’s are running behind a firewall and when those VM’s are down the only direct access to the host(s) is via iDRAC … from where you can manage VM’s via the ESXi Shell!
Begin by browsing to the iDRAC Console:
Enter the iDRAC creds:
VVD on VxRail – Sizing
VMware Validated Design (VVD) for SDDC on Dell EMC VxRail
Accelerating the path to the VMware Software Defined Data Center (SDDC). Offering VVD with complete vSAN, NSX and vRealize capabilities on the No.1 Dell EMC HCI platform. VMware Validated Design (v4.2) Certified Partner Architecture on the Dell EMC VxRail 4.5 based on PowerEdge 14g.
The following details the minimum VxRail hardware requirements per region for both the Management & Edge/Compute Workload Domains in order to implement the architecture of a VVD design on VxRail. Continue reading
VMware VVD 4.3 – BOM
The following is a list of all the components and their versions as per VMware Validated Design 4.3
This new VVD 4.3 release includes for example vSphere 6.5 U2, NSX 6.4.1, vSAN 6.6.1 U2, vRealize Log Insight 4.6, vRealize Business 7.4, vRealize Operations 6.7 and vRealize Automation 7.4.
Note: the list below can be officially found @VMware VVD 4.3 Release Notes
You will note the addition to the BOM of ‘vRealize Lifecycle Manager v1.2’ (vRSLCM) which adds huge capabilities in terms of deployment of a new SDDC and upgrades as you move into later releases. As per the release notes:
“As a part of the operations management layer, vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager provides deployment, lifecycle management and configuration drift management in an SDDC that is compliant with VMware Validated Design for Software-Defined Data Center 4.3.
At this stage, vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager is not used in the upgrade of the vRealize Suite components to VVD 4.3.” Continue reading
VVD on VxRail – Shared Edge & Compute Domain (External vCenter Installation)
Note: this is an example for reference only please use the VxRail ‘External vCenter’ installation procedures provided by Dell EMC.
The following will require an understanding of the VVD on VxRAIL design for which all associated documentation can be found here:
VMware Validated Design 4.2 on VxRail Deployment Guides
This post details how to install a VxRail appliance leveraging an external vCenter server, for example this is the case when you wish to deploy a VVD on VxRail solution where the second VxRail instance used for the Shared Edge and Compute Domain (Workload Domain) requires the use of an external vCenter (vCenter is deployed on the Management Domain VxRail Appliance). This process is strictly for the workload domain and differs from the procedure used to deploy the first Management Domain VxRail Appliance. For more information on the architecture of VVD on VxRail please check out this cool lightboard video from Jason:
VVD for SDDC on VxRail Lightboard Overview
To begin you will need to have the Shared Edge and Compute Domain (Workload Domain) vCenter deployed on the management VxRAIL Appliance. Continue reading
Windows RDP – CredSSP encryption oracle remediation
I have encountered this error on several systems over the past couple of months while attempting to create an RDP session to a Windows remote machine:
I found adding the registry entry detailed below to the client machine the quickest fix:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\CredSSP\Parameters
Create REG_DWORD: AllowEncryptionOracle
Value: 2
You can run the following cmd from an elevated prompt to apply the registry config:
REG ADD HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\CredSSP\Parameters\ /v AllowEncryptionOracle /t REG_DWORD /d 2
As per MS the issue was caused by a CredSSP update:
‘The most common scenario is that the client has the CredSSP update installed, and the Encryption Oracle Remediation policy setting does not allow an insecure RDP connection to a server that does not have the CredSSP update installed.’
