VMwarewolf

A few people have notice that since upgrading to Virtualcenter 2.5 deploying a Windows 2003 VM from template no longer gives them the ability to customize.  The option is disabled.

The fix for this is simple.  You need to grab the new deployment tools from Microsoft’s site here also referred to as the sysprep files. You will be downloading WindowsServer2003-KB892778-SP1-DeployTools-x86-ENU.cab

This file needs to be extracted on the Virtualcenter server and placed in the following folder-

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Vmware\VirtualCenter\sysprep\svr2003

Once these files exist in the correct folder, you will be able to deploy your W2K3 template.

For more details read the Virtual Center 2 Template Usages and Best Practices http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vc_2_templates_usage_best_practices_wp.pdf

Many of you have already upgraded to VirtualCenter 2.5 and ESX Server 3.5 but for those of you who prefer to let someone else iron out the gotcha’s, VMware has just published:

Upgrading to ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 Best Practices

This document provides valuable steps which may be useful when upgrading to ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5. You also want to read the Upgrade Guide. Do not skip.

Four out of five support calls I take with customers end up with a Webex session being created so I can see the problem and hopefully quick fix it. Webex helps enormously in this job.

I can’t tell you how many times I have had to give out this long URL, sometimes to customers sitting in a very loud server room. Well, while the old URL continues to work, you can now use a much shorter one:

Old URL:

https://vmwaresupport.webex.com/

New, improved URL:

http://vmsup.com

I’m sure this new domain is just a redirect to the old one, but this is such a welcome change, I thank whomever put this into place.