I previously created a VMware vRealize Log Insight security operations center (SOC), which has been updated to support vSphere 6.5 U1. This release, with the SecureESX teaser, has been released on GitHub already.  SecureESX has a bit of history behind it and has always been about auditing ESX and vSphere for security issues. Continue reading DISA STIG Auditing for the VMware vRealize Log Insight SOC →

Upgrading the virtual network to use NSX is not a heavy or large task. It can be, depending on what you are doing, but the basics are fairly straightforward. These basics are not the wholesale replacement of your existing virtual network. They are not the inclusion of new forms or routing in your virtual environment. The are the addition of NSX on top of what you already have. Once you have NSX in place, then you can dream, plan, and adopt those better ways of managing and creating virtual networks. Continue reading vSphere Upgrade Saga: NSX in 8 Easy Steps →

As I am preparing for my upgrade to vSphere 6.5, it is time once more to upgrade my HPE management tools, such as HPE Systems Insight Manager and HPE OneView for vCenter. Each has its own challenges and is not without issue.

Continue reading vSphere Upgrade Saga: HPE Management Updates →

It is time to try out the external platform service controller (External PSC), for several reasons. The first is that I wish to keep my license and SSO information separate from vCenter. The reasons are myriad, so I will list them later. The main concern is to reinstall vCenter to try to eliminate the Deploy OVF problem.

Continue reading vSphere Upgrade Saga: Migrating to External PSC →

Once I upgraded to vSphere 6.5A, I was no longer able to upload OVF or OVA files through vCenter using either of the web clients. It complains in both cases that I am not running vCenter 6.5. This is a known bug. For more information, see KB 2148007. However, there is a solution: use ovftool.

Continue reading vSphere Upgrade Saga: OVFTool to the Rescue →

I have been creating a security operations center (SOC) specific to VMware vSphere using VMware vRealize Log Insight (vRLI). This SOC project shows the power of vRLI and the wealth of data available within vSphere 6.5. The original goal was to just gain visibility into my own environment. However, after showing the simple views to a few folks, it has grown from there and continues to grow.

Continue reading Security Operations with VMware vRealize Log Insight →