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vSphere Correct Answer Campaign is Still On!

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Hey vSphere experts and enthusiasts, there’s still time to join the challenge! 

Want a chance to win the amazing Sonos Play5 wireless speaker to start or complement your home sound system? How about a chance to get on a fast-track to become a vExpert, and/or attend this year’s vExpert event at VMworld Barcelona? Then join the vSphere ‘Correct Answer’ Challenge and get in on the action.  

If you’re a vSphere product expert or enthusiast and enjoy helping others, then you qualify for the challenge! Or maybe you just want to shape your skills for that next vSphere exam. That works too! And by answering questions, you not only help produce trusted-content that benefits all vSphere focused community members, but also push us closer to reaching our ultimate goal of 98% vSphere community questions tagged as having received a ‘Correct Answer’. 

Once we see your genius, and the community acknowledges your domination, you will be rewarded! And for those of you not attending VMworld this year, there will be other reward opportunities for being community-minded and helping others, including but not limited to: 

  • Invitation to vExpert event at VMworld Barcelona (1 award) 
  • Sonos Play5: wireless home speaker (1 award) 
  • Pair of Sonos Play1: wireless home speakers (1 award) 
  • Consideration into the vExpert program (2 awards) *
  • Automatic nomination as a VMTN Community Warrior  
  • Accelerated reputation building within the community  

Ready to accept the challenge? Simply join the VMTN community and start contributing in the vSphere Community, or visit the vSphere ‘Correct Answer’ Challenge community to learn more and post your comments. 

 

Shared purpose. Shared content. Shared success. 

 

Thanks everyone, and see you in the community!

The Global Services Team 

 

 

*Must be actively involved in the VMTN Community and apply for vExpert

 

 

VMTN VMworld 2018 US Recap

 

VMworld 2018 US has concluded and the Social Media & Communities team hopes you were able to enjoy everything we had to offer in our VMTN/ VMware {code} space. We tried to give options for those of you attending in person in Las Vegas, and those at home on your computer or mobile device.

 

This year at VMworld, we had some new offerings as well as some offerings you might have found familiar. As far as familiar offerings go, vBrownBag had a great TechTalk turnout again this year in the VMTN area! Hopefully some of you were able to come to our booth during these sessions or watch the livestream on the VMTN homepage or vBrownBag website. Our blogger tables stayed very busy throughout each day during VMworld. We are looking forward to seeing more VMworld blogs this week.

Although the Beam “attendance” started slow, many virtual attendees were able to enjoy them during the week to see what was going on in the VMvillage as well as the Solutions Exchange. Our last familiar offering that we hope was utilized enough, was our fully closed podcast booth that was available for podcasters, vloggers, or anyone else who needed a quiet space to record.

 

New to VMworld this year was the introduction to our VMware {code} program. We featured some great speakers on our second stage for {code} Power Sessions. We had a “maker space” area featuring different hands-on projects led by a few VMware employees who are experts in their area. Many who stopped by and took these workshops learned a lot and really enjoyed their time.

Our last new offering this year was our VMware {code} coin, which is a web-based app where users could complete different tasks, earn coins, and spend the coins in our {code} shop. This gamification proved very popular during the week, with users coming back and asking for more tasks, and how to get more coins to buy {code} t-shirts, Bluetooth speakers, a Nintendo NES, and more!

 

Outside of the booth activity, we hosted two events for the vCommunity. Monday night, we started the week off with our Hackathon. This year’s Hackathon was highest in attendance thus far and seemed to be lots of fun for the participants, as well as the spectators. Congratulations to all of the winners of the Hackathon!

Tuesday night was another special night. For those new and returning vExperts, we hosted their exclusive party at the Pinball Hall of Fame, where we also had a vBBQ going on. This event was so great that even CEO, Pat Gelsinger, stopped by!

 

If you were unable to attend VMworld 2018 US, hopefully you were at least able to partake in the virtual offerings we provided. Maybe we’ll even see you in Barcelona in November, or at VMworld US next year in San Francisco.

 

 

The Community Pulse – Top VMTN Content from August 2018

VMTN Community Pulse

Welcome vCommunity to the Community Pulse – a monthly blog series that delivers the most high traffic content in the VMTN forums for your consumption. The VMTN forums are a learning tool unlike any other. Read through these threads to explore how other IT professionals are administrating, optimizing, and supporting their unique environments. We invite you to contribute your knowledge to these and all threads on VMTN!

What were the top VMTN conversations this August?

10 top viewed threads in August:

  1. 503 Service Unavailable (Failed to connect to endpoint: in vCenter. Resolution in progress.
  2. ESXI 6.5 Free License ? in vSphere ESXi. Resolution in progress.
  3. VMware Workstation Pro 14 – Fails To Start Due To CPU Non-Support in Workstation. Resolution in progress.
  4. vCSA 6.5 installation stuck at RPM installation in vCenter Server Appliance. Resolution is in progress.
  5. cant copy/paste from guest to host in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  6. autostart VM from ESXI 6.5 web client in Virtual Machine, Guest OS and VM Tools. Resolution is in progress.
  7. VMware Workstation and Hyper-V are not compatible. Remove the Hyper-V role from the system before running VMware Workstation in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  8. VMWare Fusion 10.0.1 doesn’t see USB devices anymore [SOLVED] in VMware Fusion (for Mac). One resolution stated, but not a resolution for all.
  9. failed to lock the file cannot open the disk in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  10. SSL Exception when Converter tries to connect to vCenter in VMware vCenter. Resolution by POCEH.

Top 10 communities, based on thread and reply creation in August:

  1. ESXi
  2. Workstation Pro
  3. Technical Community Resources and Help
  4. VMware PowerCLI
  5. VMware vCenter
  6. VMware Fusion (for Mac)
  7. VMware vSphere
  8. vCenter Server
  9. VMware View
  10. vRealize Automation Tools

 

To get real time updates on content being created within the forums, you can:

  1. Subscribe to a communities RSS Feed. Feeds are available for each community on the right-hand side, in the Actions box.
  2. Opt in to “Follow” a community. This option is available on the right-hand side, parallel with the community name. Any community you choose to follow will appear in your “My Communities” list, accessible through the tap navigation. To receive email notifications around communities that you follow, confirm in your preferences that you have opted in to email.
  3. Bookmark a community thread to receive notifications on the progress. This is only available at thread level. It is on the right-hand side, under the Actions box.

Questions on the Community Pulse? Please reach out to the VMware Community Manager, at jenniferg@vmware.com.

The CloudCred, HOL Great Labs Game – VMworld 2018

The CloudCred, Hands-On Labs Great Labs Game is heading to VMworld – and it’s bigger and better than ever!

Where is CloudCred at VMworld?

You know where to find CloudCred at VMworld – in the Hands-On Labs venue! This year, we are right inside the door, so be sure to make a quick stop and say hello.

How do I play The Great Labs Game?

1. Come in. Take your labs, take your workshops, take advantage of the over 80 brand new Self-Paced Labs or (if you fancy a bit of person-to-person instruction) over 50 Expert-Led Workshops. It’s an incredibly valuable use of your time – and this year find 45 additional seats in the labs, so getting in is even easier!

2. Once you’ve finished with your labs and workshops – the FUN BEGINS. Score your CloudCred points for EVERY lab and workshop. Follow the QR code at the end of your lab or session for CloudCred points points points! And points lead to BIG PRIZES!!

What can I win?

Every day, Sunday – Wednesday

From the Top 10 on the CloudCred Labs World Leaderboard:

  • One (1) Winner scores a GoPro Hero 6 – Black!

GoPro 6 HERO Black.png

Thursday, about 2pm

From all the Overall VMworld Labs Badge Winners:

  • One (1) Winner scores a Parrot Drone & Controller (yeah!)
  • One (1) Winner scores an Apple Watch Sport (yeeaaahhh!!)
  • And one (1) Winner scores an iPhone 7+ (goodness!)

Nice. What else?  

Get a SLICE OF RASPBERRY PI!

Raspberry Pi.png

  • Three (3) lucky folk every day will be selected at random to win a Raspberry Pi. Just come in a take those labs. If your body is in a seat, you could win. It’s that easy.

Code Coin – Am I able to earn any in The Great Labs Game?

Yes!

Code COINS narrow.png

Labs attendees can earn 25 Code Coins for up to four labs taken, and 50 additional Coins by completing select CloudCred tasks. Code Coins can be spent on lattes & more in the VMTN Communities Lounge.

This is Amazing!

We think so, too – and that’s NOT ALL!

Lightning Labs – The perfect way to end your day

Want to take a Self-Paced Lab but without the time commitment of the usual lab? Come by on your way out each afternoon, and find our featured – shorter, Lightning Labs!

Lightning Labs are only available in the last two hours of labs operations daily.

Lightning Labs participants will be entered to win an Oculus Go 3D VR Headset every day! Complete a Lightning Lab – and you’re entered to WIN.

VMworldLightningLG.png

See You Soon.

Swing in to the Hands-On Labs for the CloudCred Great Labs Game! It’s always a fantastic time – because of players like you!

CloudCredLogoWOBackSM.png

Home Lab – vSphere I

The new Home Lab – vSphere I Badge is now available at CloudCredibility.com!
Get ready to roll up your sleeves!

This new badge set of tasks is one that you won’t want to miss.

The Home Labs Badge Series, beginning with vSphere I, will challenge CloudCred players to expand their own home lab knowledge and perform hands-on tasks within vSphere – not simply answer questions.

You’ll learn everything from vSphere 6.7 installation to creating integrated containers and many other features such as:

  • Deploying an ESXi Host;
  • Installing a vCenter Server;
  • Mounting Datastores using ISCSI Targets;
  • Enabling VM Encryption; and much more.

Complete the badge between Monday, August 6th, 2018 and Wednesday, August 29th, 2018 to win either a Raspberry Pi Starter Kit or one of two Amazon Echo Dots!

First:
You’ve got to sign up to play at CloudCredibility.com
That’s the easy part! Establishing CloudCred takes serious work.

Next:
Complete the CloudCred tasks to earn the Home Lab – vSphere I Badge!

Complete the badge by August 29th, 2018 for a chance to win a Raspberry Pi Starter Kit or one of two Amazon Echo Dots!

Winners will be selected at random from all players completing the badge.

Everyone loves a good CloudCred challenge – especially one with great prizes, too! Head over to CloudCred and get started on the badge now!

Podcast Booth Available at VMworld 2018 in the VMTN Community Area

Our closed booth is back at our VMTN Community Area in VMvillage this year! With the booth, we hope to continue to lend a helping hand to podcasters, vloggers, and content creators who want to produce quality audio content in a quiet area. No need to worry about the background noise of thousands of people walking around the convention center while you’re trying to record.

These booths will have four walls and a ceiling to optimize audio within the booth. Time within these booths will be allocated in a first come first serve basis. To reserve a time please fill out the following form:

RESERVE YOUR TIME SLOT HERE

See you at VMworld US!

 

*There will be no AV tools provided. Please bring your own recording devices if necessary.

The Community Pulse – Top VMTN Content from July 2018

Welcome vCommunity to the Community Pulse – a monthly blog series that delivers the most high traffic content in the VMTN forums for your consumption. The VMTN forums are a learning tool unlike any other. Read through these threads to explore how other IT professionals are administrating, optimizing, and supporting their unique environments. We invite you to contribute your knowledge to these and all threads on VMTN!

What were the top VMTN conversations this July?

10 top viewed threads in July:

  1. 503 Service Unavailable (Failed to connect to endpoint: in vCenter. Resolution in progress.
  2. ESXI 6.5 Free License ? in vSphere ESXi. Resolution in progress.
  3. VMware Workstation Pro 14 – Fails To Start Due To CPU Non-Support in Workstation. Resolution in progress.
  4. cant copy/paste from guest to host in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  5. vCSA 6.5 installation stuck at RPM installation in vCenter Server Appliance. Resolution is in progress.
  6. VMware Workstation and Hyper-V are not compatible. Remove the Hyper-V role from the system before running VMware Workstation in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  7. autostart VM from ESXI 6.5 web client in Virtual Machine, Guest OS and VM Tools. Resolution is in progress.
  8. failed to lock the file cannot open the disk in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  9. VMware Workstation 10: No internet on guest on NAT Settings in Workstation. Resolution is in progress.
  10. High Sierra and Fusion “stuck” keys in Fusion. Resolution is in progress.

Top 10 communities, based on thread and reply creation in July:

  1. ESXi
  2. Workstation Pro
  3. Technical Community Resources and Help
  4. VMware PowerCLI
  5. VMware vCenter
  6. VMware Fusion (for Mac)
  7. VMware vSphere
  8. vCenter Server
  9. VMware View
  10. vRealize Automation Tools

 

To get real time updates on content being created within the forums, you can:

  1. Subscribe to a communities RSS Feed. Feeds are available for each community on the right-hand side, in the Actions box.
  2. Opt in to “Follow” a community. This option is available on the right-hand side, parallel with the community name. Any community you choose to follow will appear in your “My Communities” list, accessible through the tap navigation. To receive email notifications around communities that you follow, confirm in your preferences that you have opted in to email.
  3. Bookmark a community thread to receive notifications on the progress. This is only available at thread level. It is on the right-hand side, under the Actions box.

Questions on the Community Pulse? Please reach out to the VMware Community Manager, at jenniferg@vmware.com

VMTN Community Experiences You Don’t Want to Miss at VMworld

At VMworld this year, there will be awesome experiences that we hope the VMTN Community will find entertaining and want to partake in – including some for those who cannot attend the event. Get excited and get signed up for the following:

At Home vCommunity members:

  1. Beams (VMworld US only):
  • 3 Beams at the VMTN Community Area.
  • Beams are video conferencing tools which provide the freedom to explore VMvillage from the comfort of your own home.
  • Sign up now!
  1. VMTN Homepage Takeover
  • Featuring: videos, VMworld social, podcasts, blogs, {code}shop updates, and links to the forums with information on the latest VMware announcements.
  • Bookmark this page to Stay Connected.

For the in-person attendees:

  1. vBrownBag TechTalks – A VMTN Member
  1. Closed Booth Available for Podcast, Vlog, or even Webinar creation
  1. Blogger Program 
  • Blogger tables will be set-up to provide a space for bloggers to write, charge, and network.
  • Don’t forget to stop by and say hi to VMware Blogger Program Manager, Elsa Mayer.
  1. VMware {code}
  • Come visit VMware {code} program manager, Kripa Sitaraman, in the VMTN Community Area to learn about the {code}shop! Check out our {code}shop and espresso bar where you get “buy” cool prizes using Code Coin earned through our BlockChip App
  • Register for the VMware{code} Power Session sessions. Search “VMware{code}” in the app or click here: https://bit.ly/2uKc2ns to view online.
  • Don’t miss the Monday night Hackathon!  It won’t disappoint! For Information & Sign-up Instructions: https://bit.ly/2LHbBk8

7. CloudCred

  • CloudCred & the VMware Hands-On Labs partner again to bring you the Hands-On Labs Challenge!
  • Each lab and workshop will have its own unique, corresponding task on the CloudCred website so you can play to WIN.
  • Every day, we’ll give away a GoPro 6 HERO camera to a player from the Top 10!
  • Every day, we’ll give away 5 Raspberry Pi’s a random to lab attendees!
  • Grand Prize winners on Thursday will take home an Apple iPhone 6+, an Apple Smart Watch, and a DJI Spark Drone!
  • And if that’s not enough, take a Hands-On Lab to earn Code Coins – then spend them in the VMware Code Shop in the Communities area! Buy anything from delicious lattes & chocolates to smart devices, tee-shirts, or a Nintendo Classic gaming system.

       So make sure you take a Hands-On Lab & get in the game with CloudCredibility.com 

       Visit CloudCred community manager Noell Grier in the Hands-on Labs area at VMworld US or Europe, to learn more.

  1. vExpert Party
  • Each year, vExpert Advocacy Manager, Corey Romero, hosts all of the vExperts for an after-hours event at a fantastic location near VMworld.
  • If you are a vExpert, watch your email for invitations to both the US and Europe parties.

And that’s a wrap! I will see you folks either virtually, or in person at the VMTN Community Area in VMvillage in about a month.

For further information or questions around these programs, email the VMTN Community Manager, jenniferg@vmware.com.

 

 

 

Congratulations to VMTN Community Warrior, @continuum!

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. This program will continue to recognize users who commit time and energy to engaging with peers in the VMTN community. Learn more.

Congratulations to VMware Technology Network’s newest Community Warrior, @continuum for being a beneficial contributor to our community. We are truly thankful for everything you do to help the VMTN community.

Learn a little bit more about @continuum…

Which VMware communities are you involved in?

I started with Workstation as I had no access to ESX compatible hardware until about 2008.
Later I got quite involved in the Converter forum – I even developed a LiveCD  for Coldclones when VMware decided to discontinue their own version. Nowadays I rather search for recovery related posts in all forums. Even if I miss a post myself – other community members tell folks to contact me directly when they post any recovery topics.

What is the most difficult thread you’ve addressed on VMTN?

The most difficult thread I ever addressed in VMTN was the challenge to run VMware Workstation on top of a Windows LiveCD. Normally VMware Workstation requires a user-account to run on Windows but a Windows LiveCD only uses one SYSTEM account only.
So everybody I asked about this said it is impossible. One and a half year and countless hours later I finally was able to solve  the problem and I could celebrate one of the happiest victories of my  live. The next few years I offered a construction kit for a Windows  LiveCD with VMware Workstation on my website and had lots of happy  users.

What is the most rewarding thread you’ve addressed on VMTN?

The most rewarding thread I ever encountered in VMTN was the request to recover some vmdks from an unreadable VMFS-volume. That thread was in 2007 or 2008 if I remember right.
After some weeks of work I discovered an approach to recover lost vmdks after a VMFS-corruption. Later I added more work into this approach and got better and better the more cases I looked into. 3  years later I lost my boring factory job and thanks to this rare skill set I was able to find a new job for a german VMware Partner Company. Nowadays I run my own small business and offer VMware recovery support to world wide customers.

Are you working on any projects you think the VMTN community would be interested in? (book, blog, etc)
Yes – I maintain a Linux LiveCD that I use to assist users with remote support when they run into problems with VMFS-corruption. Unfortunately  major changes in ESXi 6 and later make this even trickier as before and  I am trying to keep up to date with the latest changes. This LiveCD is available on my site www.vm-sickbay.com. Unfortunately I don’t have enough time to keep this site up to date. At the moment I have a lot of research to do to keep up with the latest changes in the ESXi-product.

Anyway – I still offer my support in all VMTN posts that are somehow related to my recovery skills.

How do you work with VMware day-to-day?

I offer recovery support for VMware customers. So typically I scan VMTN for any questions in my area and if required I get in contact with those users and fix their problems. Another part of my time goes into research as the VMFS-filesystem and all the related recovery topics are only poorly documented – if they are documented at all. I used to work for a german VMware partner for a couple of years – but that company was not interested in my recovery work so I decided to try my luck as a freelancer.

How can people follow/get in touch (Twitter,etc)?
Nowadays I rarely use my twitter account @sanbarrow.
But I actively monitor my skype account “sanbarrow” and answer all questions related to any recovery problems.

Thanks @continuum!

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email jenniferg@vmware.com.

Community Warrior Nominations

This program continues to recognizing users who commit time and energy to engaging with peers in the VMTN community. Learn more.

It is time to nominate the next VMTN Community Warrior! This is your chance to choose a commendable member who has devoted a great amount of time and insight to help others in the community. These people are high point earners due to their helpfulness in answering questions and sharing their contributions across multiple social media platforms.

A Community Warrior will be chosen through this nomination process every quarter, starting this July. Don’t worry if you or your nominee are not chosen for this quarter; there will always be next time. You still have a few weeks left to step up and nominate a deserving warrior!

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide support to you recently at a VMUG or over Twitter? Any community involvement counts. Head to the Community Warrior page to nominate a user, or email jenniferg@vmware.com.

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