When you go to a physical conference, you are totally immersed in the moment. You are there for the sessions and hallway conversations, as well as to meet new people and reconnect with those you already know. It has been several years since I attended a physical conference. COVID-19 keeps most folks home even if they are fully vaccinated. So how do you attend a virtual conference? How can you enjoy that same level of immersion?
vSphere Upgrade Saga: Pre-Upgrade Tasks for 7.0
Every upgrade within vSphere major versions requires some pre-upgrade tasks to first be completed. Those are always third party software and hardware updates. It is often a bad idea to upgrade too fast when you use a lot of third party software. Your backups, management tools, and hardware may fail when in use. Therefore, it is always best to plan your upgrade tasks for when these subsystems are ready to upgrade.
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Conference and Event Tips v2
Given the prevalence of COVID-19 and other illnesses, it is important to document a new set of conference and event tips. So, in version 2 of my conference and event tips, I have added a health section with information for protecting not just your own health but the health of those around you. When you are going to an event, you are entering a community, and the health of the entire community is key. My other tips still apply and are also listed herein.
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Voting in the United States of America is a civic duty as well as a right. It is a duty in that all citizens should vote, have the right to vote, and vote to better our nation. However, during a pandemic voting will be much more difficult due to constraints imposed by the pandemic, fear of capturing the disease, fear of being around people in general, or thinking your vote does not count (it does!) It is still our civic duty to vote; here are some tips to help your voting efforts while staying safe!
Ansible: Where vSphere and Linux Collide
Recently, I moved what I call my ‘base’ installers to Ansible. Base installers are those that install the bare minimum number of tools I require on top of the minimal installs of Linux; that is, Linux installations that include just enough of the OS components to boot and provide minimal, mostly manual administrative tasks. The ‘base’ installers work with this minimal Linux to install very specific items I use within my own network. Mostly, they are there to create or update tools used regularly to manage or enhance my systems, such as tools to manage VMware vSphere, LinuxVMA and tools to download VMware packages, LinuxVSM.
Linux Notes: Fixing Dropbox Container: Update 2
I recently updated the way I run Dropbox in a container on CentOS 7. For a history of this process within my environment, see the following articles:
Putting Dropbox in a container is required for installations of Linux that do not use the latest version of the C libraries and other bits. It is also convenient for keeping Dropbox to itself.
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