VMware Fusion 3 Close Look

Here’s some screenshots and things that I noticed while working with VMware Fusion v3.0

VM Settings Screen

Here’s the new Virtual Machine Settings area. This was from a Windows 7 VM that I had on Fusion v2.06. Notice that the "type" of VM is listed as Windows Vista, since in v2.06 we didn’t have a Windows 7 option, which we now do in Fusion v3.
The new "Applications" menu is pretty slick. I have screenshot of it later on.

Operating System Choices

Here’s all the Windows operating system versions that are supported in Fusion v3. That’s quite a list! Notice Server 2008 R2 is also on there.
I changed my Windows 7 VM from the "Windows Vista" type to the "Windows 7" type. All is well.

Advanced Settings, Other

The "Advanced, Other" setting is shown above. I thought there were some interesting options in here. I haven’t changed any of them yet, but thought they were interesting none-the-less.

New Applications Menu

Here’s a screenshot of the new "Applications Menu" in Fusion v3. You can also edit this menu by clicking on the "Applications Menu Settings" link near the bottom. Here you can add programs into this list with a simple click in a checkmark box. You can also perform VM functions (settings, power control, etc) under the "Virtual Machine" link on the this menu.

Changing to “Aero” Theme under Windows 7

Changing the Windows 7 theme to an "Aero" enabled theme is simple. After installing Fusion v3 and upgrading VMware Tools in your Windows 7 VM, just Right Click on the Desktop and choose "Personalize".

Next, just look under the area that’s entitled "Aero Themes" and choose one.

Here’s an Aero theme that I selected. Notice now I get the "Aero Effect" (see through glass) on my active window.

Shared Folders Link Changed

I had a couple of existing links to my host’s computer share through the "Shared Folders" option (under the VM settings). When I tried to follow these links, I received the error shown in the screenshot. Come to find out, the "Shared Folder" main path has changed with Fusion v3.

The new host computer shared folder location is now called "vmware-host", instead of ".host" in Fusion v2.x.
Just update your links with this new path name and then they’ll work (or just recreate your shortcuts).

VMware Tools – Custom Setup

Going through the custom setup for VMware Tools, I noticed the "VMXNet3 NIC Driver". I would assume this is very similar to the same named enhanced NIC driver found in VMware vSphere 4, however I don’t know when you’d use it or why.. a question I shall soon have an answer too!

Is Fusion v3 Actually 64bit?

I saw numerous posts in the VMware Community Forum that the Mac process viewer shows VMware Fusion as running as a 32bit application, while one of the major features of Fusion v3 was that it’s supposed to be 64bit.
As highlighted in the forums, we need to look at the main process for Fusion, not for the Fusion GUI/Application. If we look at the process called "vmware-vmx", this is the main kernel/application for Fusion and we see that it’s running at 64bit. Thus, yes, Fusion actually is running at 64bit.

Release: VMware Workstation 7.0

I was so excited about the new VMware Fusion v3 that I noticed on VMGuy.com’s Blog that VMware Workstation v7 was also released today for all you Windows & Linux users. Here’s what’s new in v7! (Thanks to VMGuy.com!)

You can find the download in the download section here.

Here’s the what’s new section from the release notes:

This release of VMware Workstation adds the following new features and support:

• New Support for 32-Bit and 64-Bit Operating Systems
• New Features in VMware Workstation
• Developer Tools

New Support for 32-Bit and 64-Bit Operating Systems

This release provides support for the following host and guest operating systems:

Operating System	Host and Guest Support
Windows 7 Home Basic Windows 7 Premium Windows 7 Business Windows 7 Enterprise Windows 7 Ultimate	Host and guest
Windows 2008 SP2, R2	Guest
Windows Vista SP2	Guest
Debian 5	Guest
Ubuntu 9.04	Host and guest
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3	Host and guest
CentOS 5.3	Guest
Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.3	Guest
OpenSUSE 11.x	Host and guest
Mandriva 2009	Host and guest
SUSE Linux Enterprise 11.x	Host and guest

New Features in VMware Workstation

• Windows 7 — Create and run Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit virtual machines using VMware Workstation. VMware Workstation has been enhanced for performance and to take advantage of the new Windows 7 features including Live Thumbnails and Aero Peek.
• Aero Glass — A new Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) graphics driver has been developed for Windows Vista and Windows 7 virtual machines. The WDDM driver can display the Windows Aero user interface, OpenGL 1.4, and Shader Model 3.0. For more information on the VMware recommended graphics hardware, see the VMware Workstation User’s Manual.
• Windows XP Mode Compatible — Import a Windows XP Mode virtual machine using VMware Workstation 7.0 and run the virtual machine without being prompted to enter a Windows XP license key. VMware Workstation enables the Windows XP Mode virtual machine to take advantage of more than one processor, render high-end graphics, integrate seamlessly with Unity, and transfer files easily with drag and drop, and shared folders. VMware Workstation also has the ability to run concurrently with Windows XP Mode.
• 3D Graphics Improvements for Windows XP guests — OpenGL 2.1 and Shader Model 3.0 support is now available for Windows XP virtual machines. The XPDM (SVGAII) graphics driver works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. However, only Windows XP virtual machines install the XPDM graphics driver by default. To switch graphics drivers in the guest operating system, see How to Switch Between SVGAII and WDDM Drivers.
• vSphere 4.0 and ESX Support — Install and run ESX 4.0 as a guest operating system. VMware Certified Professionals (VCPs) and technical professionals can install the latest server virtualization software and experiment with server setup, conduct training, show demos, and test production configurations. Running ESX as a guest eliminates the need to have spare hardware available to run ESX natively and enables ESX to run on systems that are not listed on the ESX hardware compatibility list (HCL). For more information on the supported processors and host operating systems, see Considerations for Running an ESX Guest.
  This feature is intended for educational and demonstration purposes only and should not be used in production environments. To use this feature, you must download vSphere 4.0 from the VMware Web site and follow the installation documentation provided with vSphere to install ESX.
• Virtual Printing — Print from virtual machines without mapping network printers or installing printer drivers in the virtual machine. With virtual printing enabled in the virtual machine setting, all of the printers installed on the host operating system are available in the guest operating system. This functionality is enabled through a partnership with ThinPrint, Inc.
• Four-Way SMP — Create and run virtual machines with a total of four processor cores, which can consist of four single-core processors, two dual-core processors, or one quad-core processor like the new Intel i7.
• 32GB Guest Memory — Run virtual machines with up to 32GB of memory using VMware Workstation.
• 256-bit Encryption — Secure your virtual machines with AES256-bit encryption to prevent unauthorized users from accessing or running the configuration files.
• AutoProtect —Schedule snapshots of your virtual machine to be created at a regular interval to ensure that you always have a snapshot available to revert to when needed.
• Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) — ALSA significantly improves the sound of virtual machines running on a Linux host and streams the audio from each virtual machine on a separate channel so that multiple virtual machines can be heard simultaneously.
• Cross-Platform License Keys — Use the VMware Workstation 7.0 license key on both the Windows and Linux versions. Make sure you read the EULA for the terms and conditions that must be met when switching platforms.
• Pause a Virtual Machine — Free your CPU resources instantaneously without powering off or suspending the virtual machine.
• Expand Virtual Disks — Increase the size of the virtual disk from within VMware Workstation. For Windows Vista and Windows 7 guests, the disk partitions can be adjusted without the use of additional software.
• Compact Virtual Disks — Reclaim unused space from a virtual disk so that the host or another virtual machine can use it.
• Shared Folder Compatibility — Increased compatibility with many Windows applications that previously were unable to read or write files to shared folders.
• On-Demand VMware Tools Download — On-demand download capability provides the latest VMware Tools for the guest operating system. This feature reduces the overall download size of VMware products by downloading only the required set of VMware Tools and and enables VMware to release new versions frequently.
• Drag and Drop Enhancements — Drag and drop enhancements include support for new file types including images and formatted text and extend the existing ability to drag and drop files to a broader set of guest and host operating systems.
• Virtual Network Editor — User interface enhancements have simplified creating and configuring virtual networks.
• Fuse Mount for Linux — Use Fuse to mount .vmdk disks on to the file system of Linux hosts.
• Simplified Collection of Support Information — Gather detailed information about multiple virtual machines and the host machine at the same time. The information is packaged in a compressed file so that you can email it to VMware support or post it on the VMware Workstation forums.
• IPv6 Support — Create a bridged connection to an IPv6 network on VMware Workstation virtual machines.

Developer Tools

• Replay Debugging — Enhancements in replay debugging make the feature faster and easier to use. Developers can attach to a particular process instance, attach to a process in the middle of a recording, and ensure that the executables and symbols on the host machine match the guest. Developers can remotely view the exact state of the machine when the system failed and replay the recording to see the circumstances that led the system to fail. For more information about replay debugging, see the new Integrated Virtual Debugger for Visual Studio Developer’s Guide and technical note for Replay Debugging on Linux .
• SpringSource Tools Suite Integration — Use the latest version of the SpringSource Tools Suite to run and debug Java applications in a VMware Workstation virtual machine without leaving the development environment. You can download the latest SpringSource Tools Suite from the Spring Source Web site.
• Remotely Debug C and C++ Applications for Eclipse — Set a remote debugging session inside a controlled C and C++ environment where the guest operating system is different from the host. For more information about remotely debugging C and C++ for Eclipse, see the Integrated Virtual Debugger for Eclipse Developer’s Guide .
• VMware Tools Configuration Utility – Use the new VMware Tools command-line interface (CLI) to automate configuration of VMware Tools in guest operating systems. With CLI you can modify VMware Tools settings, shrink virtual disks, connect and disconnect virtual devices, and more. For information on the VMware Tools configuration utility, see the new VMware Tools Configuration Utility User’s Guide.

Come and Get It – VMware Fusion 3 “The Best Way to Run Windows on the Mac”

I’ll have some screenshots working with Fusion 3 later today! It’s installed and working great!

Here’s a list of the new features (over 50 of them):
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10957

I didn’t have any issues upgrading my v2 key, but it looks like some are fighting the licensing system from VMware. VMware has addressed the issue and has posted a temp key on their blog for those that need it.
http://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2009/10/addressing-the-overwhelming-demand-for-vmware-fusion-3-free-30-day-trial-available.html

Click here to download the VMware Fusion 3 software

Use the following 30 trial license key to get you up and running: JN28P-7UJ8M-H8K33-0202P-9EPH4

If you’ve updated, how is the performance for you? Any issues?

From the VMware Fusion Blog: We are pleased to announce that VMware Fusion 3, the best way to run Windows on the Mac, is now available.

VMware Fusion 3 makes it easier and faster than ever to run Mac and Windows applications side-by-side without rebooting. VMware Fusion 3 is available in a single, all-inclusive edition that includes everything you need to switch to the Mac for just $79.99.

Buy VMware Fusion 3 NOW!

VMware Fusion 3 is now available at the VMware Online Store, the Apple Online Store® (apple.com), Apple Retail Stores, Amazon.com, and other select US resellers starting today.

I want to upgrade to VMware Fusion 3 NOW…

Upgrades from previous versions of VMware Fusion to VMware Fusion 3 cost only $39.99 and are available exclusively from the VMware Online Store, so you can download and start using VMware Fusion 3 immediately!

When will VMware Fusion 3 be available at online resellers and retail stores in Europe or Asia?

VMware Fusion 3 will be available at authorized retail and online stores in Europe and Asia starting Tuesday, November 4th.

Is there special academic/student pricing for VMware Fusion 3?

For qualified students and teachers, VMware has academic pricing that is available from the VMware Academic Store, so you can download and start using VMware Fusion 3 immediately at an even lower cost!

What if I bought VMware Fusion 2 recently?

Customers who purchase VMware Fusion 2 from October 1, 2009 through end of November qualify for a free downloadable upgrade to VMware Fusion 3.

If you bought VMware Fusion 2 from the VMware Online Store from October 1st through October 26th, there is nothing for you to do and you will receive a free downloadable VMware Fusion 3 upgrade by e-mail in the next week.

• If you bought VMware Fusion 2 from a retail or other online store, you need to go to the VMware Fusion Technology Guarantee website, fill out the online form, and mail in or fax your proof of purchase of VMware Fusion 2. Free downloadable VMware Fusion 3 upgrades will take up two weeks to deliver after receiving a valid proof of purchase.

What if I bought VMware Fusion 2 with the 12-month Subscription option?If you have an active subscription only contract (purchased 12 months ago or less), you will receive a free downloadable VMware Fusion 3 upgrade by e-mail in the next week.My business bought VMware Fusion 2 with the Site Support?If you have an active Site Support contract (purchased 12 months ago or less), you will receive a free downloadable VMware Fusion 3 upgrade for your covered licenses by e-mail in the next week.

Office 2010 Beta 2 Screenshots and Info

 
 

 Here are some screenshots I was able to take of the new Office 2010 (Beta 2 Release). More information about Office 2010 can be found on Microsoft’s site: http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/. Their site has some videos about the new features and some good general information.

 Starting Office 2010, here’s what you’ll first see on the “Start” menu:
 

I’ll really focus on some screenshots from Outlook 2010 and OneNote 2010 (two programs that I use constantly through the day). I’ll also have some main screen screenshots from the other programs in the Office suite.

Outlook 2010

Here’s the new splash screen when starting Outlook 2010. All of the programs have this same new splash screen format.

  

Here’s the new look of Outlook 2010. Notice the new “Ribbon” up at the top.

I think one of the first things that I noticed was the default “conversation” view for my emails. As you’ll notice in the screenshot below, emails are grouped into conversations with the all of the emails belonging to that conversation below it. You can read the email by selecting the message in the conversation. This takes a little bit getting used to but I really like it. It’s a lot like how Gmail shows email messages.

There is also a little arrow icon next to the email subject which does a full expand of all messages. In the above screenshot, Outlook grouped all the messages that were redundant into a few messages so you can see the contents of the message without having to read each person’s reply to the original message. I thought this was really cool and it’s a huge timesaver! But if you still need to see that individual message, just click on the arrow and it will show all messages in the conversation as shown below.

Here’s a view of the “Home” ribbon:

 
Here’s the “Send/Receive” ribbon:

The “Folder” ribbon:

The “View” ribbon:

The older “Office Orb” that was in Office 2007 looks to have been replaced by the “File” area, off of the ribbon. Clicking on the “File” link takes you to the general overview area. The “File” area for Outlook is shown below:
 

A *very* useful feature in Outlook 2010 is how meeting invites are shown. The below screenshot shows a meeting invite that I received. Notice how it also shows you your calendar as part of the invite, so you now know if you can accept the meeting invite and what is also scheduled around that meeting, as maybe the timeslot is open but appointments around the timeslot might alter your acceptance to the meeting invite.

 

Speaking of Calendar features, there is also a feature to Email your calendar. This isn’t exactly new but the way is done I think is new to me. For example, here’s the screenshot for the “Email Calendar” link:

When you select that link, the below window appears:  

 Once you choose the settings on the above screen, Outlook then creates a new email message (shown below). What I thought was really cool about this is that it shows your recipient your available times for the timeframe you selected (without showing the actual appointments on your calendar). Now they know when you’re available for a meeting.

 
 

 Viewing other people’s calendars or several calendars at once also has some improvements. Here’s a screenshot of viewing several shared calendars. I think this makes it extremely easy to schedule time with others. 

 
Another cool little feature that is in Outlook 2010, is the contact information management features. Here’s an email that I received from Dan. When you right click or hover over the contact, a little window (shown below) shows the contact information for that person. It also has some shortcuts to send a meeting invite to them, to call, email and several other options.  
 

 
OneNote 2010

I use OneNote on a daily basis. Here’s what it looks like in Office 2010.  

 Word 2010

Here’s a high level screenshot of Word 2010. 

Well there you go! I can’t wait until we get the official launch! I’ll let you know how things run with Office 2010 over the next several weeks.

Oh, one more thing! I’m posting this blog post with Word 2010! It now has a built in Blog “manager” and can be used to post things automatically!

I’ve taken a screenshot as I’m writing this post, within the blog manager in Word 2010.

 

Take care!

Setting Up FCOE on a Nexus 5000

Scott Lowe posted yesterday on how to setup Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCOE) on a Cisco Nexus 5000. He made a very easy to follow How-To guide, which is located here:

http://blog.scottlowe.org/2009/10/25/setting-up-fcoe-on-a-nexus-5000/

So what will the impact of Exchange 2010 have on the archiving industry?

I’ve heard several “rumblings” from Microsoft as well as other “Archiving Solution” vendors regarding their take on Exchange 2010’s built-in archiving features.

I thought Martin over at Archiving101.com has posted a great write-up about this topic. If you are considering on waiting for Exchange 2010’s archiving capability to do your corporate archiving and E-Discovery, I’d recommend you take a look at his post.

http://www.archiving101.com/?p=178

Take care!

Exchange 2010 is Code Complete and on its way to General Availability

This post was from a few days ago however I just saw it today.. It looks like the Exchange Development team has completed the Exchange 2010 code and it is on its way to General Availability (GA). Read more of the details over on the Microsoft Exchange Team’s Blog:

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/10/08/452775.aspx

If you’re interested, you can still get the Release Candidate (RC) version of Exchange 2010 from Microsoft here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd185495.aspx
System Requirements: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us//library/aa996719(EXCHG.140).aspx

How-To : Running the vSphere 4 Client on Microsoft Windows 7 (RTM/Retail)

Running the VMware vSphere 4 client on a Windows 7 machine just doesn’t seem to work. After the Windows 7 RTM version was released, we could use the vSphere Client to connect to an ESX 3.5 host with no problems. However you still cannot connect to a vSphere 4 host. This lesson describes how to "fix" this issue with a workaround that was presented on the VMware Community Forums (thanks to all on that post!). This is a simple and concise way of implementing the "fix" without having to do a lot of changes to your system (some other blogs have shown the more "difficult" route to accomplish this same thing). What is nice about this method is that it’s easily removable and doesn’t change any system settings permanently.

The Error

Here I will show the error when connecting our vSphere client to a vSphere 4 server.

Here is a screenshot of the error. It reads:
Error parsing the server "192.168.70.199" "clients.xml" file. Login will continue, contact your system administrator.
When you click on the "Ok" button, you will get the following error.

This error reads:
The type initializer for ‘VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy’ thew an exception.

The Workaround Fix

We have pre-packaged the files that are needed to "fix" (e.g. workaround) this issue.

Download only ONE of the files below per the version of Windows 7 you are using (e.g either 32bit or 64bit).

http://lewanps.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/viclient4_fix_win7-x32-zip.doc (for 32bit)
http://blog.lewan.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/viclient4_fix_win7-x64-zip.doc (for 64bit)

Our blog system won’t allow .zip files so I renamed the files to .doc. Once you download correct file above, RENAME the file to end in a .zip extension and then proceed with the next steps below.

Once you have renamed the file, right click on the file and select "Extract All".

Next, extract the files to the location below:
For 32bit, extract to: C:Program FilesVMwareInfrastructure
For 64bit, extract to: C:Program Files (x86)VMwareInfrastructure
In our screenshot, we’re extracting to a 32bit system.
Check the box that says to "Show extracted files when complete".

You will get a few "Confirm Folder Replace" options. Check the box that says "Do this for all current items" and then click on the "Yes" button to continue.

Now select the "Do this for the next conflicts" checkmark. Then select the "Copy and Replace" option. We are basically replacing 2 simple configuration files for the vSphere client and for Update Manager. The changes are simple and easy to remove once this issue has been resolved by VMware.

Next select the checkmark for "Do this for all current items" and then select the "Continue" button. Windows is asking for "admin level" permission to replace the files that we told it to in the previous step.

New Program Links

After the extraction happens, a box will appear like the one in the screenshot. The two links for the vSphere Client and for the vSphere Update Client are NEW links that will need to be used to launch either program. Feel free to copy these links to your desktop or Start Menu. You MUST use these new links in order for the clients to work.

Connected!

Launch the vSphere Client using the link described in the previous step. Type in your vSphere Servers’ IP address, your login and password, and viola! you should now connect. Once connected, you can click on the "Inventory" link to see the vSphere server.

Here is your vSphere server, using the vSphere Client on Windows 7!

Customer Advisory – HP LeftHand P4000 10G BASE-CX4 Upgrade Kit 10 Gb

ADVISORY: HP LeftHand P4000 10G BASE-CX4 Upgrade Kit 10 Gb Ethernet board cannot be installed in the half height slot of a HP LeftHand P4300 or P4500 Storage System and results in patch failed error.

This customer advisory explains the issue and how to address it (basically install the 10GB card into the full height PCI-Express slot).
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01909238&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=101&prodSeriesId=3936136&prodTypeId=12169

 

 

Provisioning with iSCSI and Solaris ZFS in 10 Minutes

Here is a great Wiki article from Sun explaining how to work with iSCSI on Solaris as well as working with the ZFS filesystem on iSCSI devices:

http://wikis.sun.com/display/BluePrints/Provisioning+with+iSCSI+and+Solaris+ZFS+in+10+Minutes

Here is also a link for a HP Lefthand document which describes how to expand a Solaris UFS File System on the fly.
HP Lefthand How To – Expand a Solaris UFS File System on the Fly

Here’s a great Sun article on using Multipath (MPIO) on Solaris with iSCSI:
http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-2723/fncpc?l=en&a=view