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Tag Archives: VMware

VMworld: 8 VMTN Community Opportunities You Don’t Want to Miss

To recognize VMTN Community contributors, there are going to be 8 fantastic programs running at VMworld – including some for those who cannot attend the event. Get excited and get signed up for the following:

For the Folks at Home:

  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: livestream videos, VMworld social, live podcasts, blogs, {code}fest updates, and links to the forums with information on the latest VMware announcements.
  • Bookmark this page to Stay Connected.

For the Show-Goers:

  1. vBrownBag TechTalks – A VMTN Member

  1. Closed Booths 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.
  • VMware Blogger Program Manager, Elsa Mayer, will be manning this area in the US and Europe to introduce her plans for the program and hand-out SWAG do nothing else… Don’t miss the opportunity to stop by.
  1. {code}fest
  • Come visit VMware {code} program manager, Tim Bonnemann, at his VMware {code} in the VMTN Community Area to learn about the program, sign-up, and get more SWAG do nothing else.
  • {code}fest sessions available for registration in the VMworld US and Europe.
  • Sign up for the {code} fest Hackathon on Monday night at VMworld U.S. and VMworld Europe.
  • Amazon Echos will be given away at the VMware {code} booth, at Hackathon Training Sessions, and at the Hackathon.
  1. CloudCred
  • CloudCred will support the VMware Hands-On Labs by running the CloudCred, Hands-On Labs Challenge.
  • Each lab and workshop will have its own unique, corresponding task on the CloudCred website.
  • Every day, CloudCred & the Labs will award Amazon Echoes, along with other prizes to those people landing in the top spots on the CloudCred, Labs Leaderboard
  • 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. Inside-scoop: this years US party will be held at the Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame.
  • 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 just over a month.

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

Congratulations to #VMTN Community Warrior: @jfrappier

Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior. In 2017, this program will be recognizing and rewarding 25 users who commit time and energy to engaging in community discussions and capturing the values of VMware Technology Network. Learn more.

Congratulations, and welcome to the VMTN Community Warrior Hall of Fame @Jfrappier.  It is an honor to put the spotlight on you, because you deserve it. Check out the nomintation Jonathan received the following nomination from Community Warrior: @arielsanchezmor:

Jonathan is a veteran of the vExpert and EMCelect communities who has been a big influence in the Boston virtualization groups and has been an integral member of vBrownBag. He has also led the charge in publishing content that bridges the devops tools integrations with vSphere (out of his own time, this is not his job role) at jfrap.com and has helped many in the vCommunity as a mentor and sounding board. Unusually quiet in person, yet one of the funniest I know, my main reason for nominating him is that I know (from being a vBrownBag crew member) that Jonathan is the engine that keeps vBrownBag running, always scheduling people with ample time and doing the hard work of choosing a new topic and getting presenters for it. He takes care of all the little jobs that are needed, and also finds time to regularly present when he is asked to. I have only seen his impact in the last two years, and yet I know he has been doing this for a long time.

 

I think Ariel captured why Jonathon was chosen to receive this badge. Jonathan is not only active on VMTN, but as Ariel says, he is a vExpert who is heavily involved with the vBrownBag organization. Beyond that, the man is also active on GitHub, he recently delivered the keynote at the annual Virtualization Technology User Group (VTUG) Spring Forward meetup, is active in the Boston VMUG, is constantly tweeting, blogging, sharing, learning, and LIVING the foundational principles behind a great community. He even had a book published.

Let’s learn a bit more about this warrior…

K: You are clearly a VMware community guy – what is the unique value for you in each?

J: None, and any…all at once. I am less interested in any particular vertical community and more interested in meeting other people. Since my interests are spread across technology I just choose to meet smart, open, people who are interested in helping others with positive feedback. If that person is a SQL DBA – cool, I’ve played the role of SQL admin before. Network admin? Yup, done that. Developer – I just want to hear more from those people as I think our world is headed towards “everything as code.”

K: How are you going to get involved with community at VMworld?

J: I will be in the hang space (VMvillage) almost the entire event, I’ll pop down to the vendor place but otherwise I’ll be connecting with people and helping vBrownBag produce TechTalks.

K: Do you want to tell me a bit about the vBrownBag TechTalk you will be delivering?

J: At VMworld US I will be doing a vBrownBag Tech Talk on using the vSphere 6.5 REST APIs though an Ansible playbook. I’ve long been a fan of Ansible and being able to use to automate and manage the configuration of my vSphere environment combines two products I enjoy working with.

For those that haven’t worked with APIs before, don’t worry because we will be kicking off a vBrownBag series on APIs right after VMworld US with a ton of great presenters and topics.

Thank you, Jonathan – and congratulations again!

To check out Jonathan’s TechTalk at VMworld U.S., register for VMTN6616U on ScheduleBuilder. To get in touch online, you can reach Jonathan here:

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide server saving 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 katieb@vmware.com.

VMworld 2017: Closed Booths Available in the VMTN Community Area

This year, VMTN is making it a priority to empower podcasters, vloggers, and content creators. At our VMTN Community Area in VMvillage we will have booths available to enable the VMware community to produce quality audio content in a quiet area. This means, when you’re sharing news and opinions, you won’t have to share the background noise of 9,999+ people walking around a convention center.

In the U.S. there will be 2 booths and in Europe there will be 1. 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 TIMESLOT HERE:

Europe: https://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-35674

U.S.: https://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-35644

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

VMTN will also promote your podcasts should you opt in. At the top of the above documents, there will be a link to a form. Should you choose to fill out the form, your podcast will be added to our featured podcasts list on VMTN.

See you at VMworld 2017!

Discover VMTN: 3 Remarkable Reasons to Come to Communities for Support

Blog 3 – series predecessors: VMTN Global Forums, 7 Ways to Gain Points

VMware Technology Network is a communities’ platform comprised of 3.2 million members and only three, as of today, can boast that they host this badge on their profile.

What makes these 3 users remarkable? They are a part of VMware’s Global Services team – they are Knowledge Champions* – and they have integrated into the VMTN ecosystem to spread that knowledge to whoever is in need. These users are committing time to ensure that any  query that is not addressed with peer-to-peer support within a reasonable window receives the attention it needs to reach a resolution.

*At VMware, the title of Knowledge Champion is given to those responsible for coordinating with engineering and the technical support team to publish accurate internal and external knowledge base articles. Communities is a hot bed for content – as they support VMTN, VMTN inspires them!

Meet 3 of the great reasons VMTN should be your go-to site for VMware support:

Knowledge Champion: @AishR

IT experience of 10 years, where she worked as an SE on various domains – hardware and software. She is passionate about resolving customer queries and validating technical documents.

Main VMware areas of Interest:  Virtualization, Networking, Data center technology

Technical Certifications: VCA-5, VCP-5

Other Certifications: Six sigma Green belt, Certified Scrum Master

Fun fact: Dancing makes one smarter and it worked for me 😊

 

Knowledge Champion: @mhampto

Previously a TSE in the Sysops group prior to being a Knowledge Champion.

Main VMware areas of interest: certifications, and history

Technical Certifications: VCP4 and 5, six in progress. Specialize in vSphere (ESXi, vCenter Server)

Fun fact: Enjoys riding motorcycles in the Rockies

 

Knowledge Champion: @parmarr

Rahul spent 7 years in the Support Industry, working on product releases, content editing, and the VMware Licensing Support Team, before joining the Knowledge Experience team.

Main VMware areas of interest: licensing & account management

Technical Certifications: VCA-5, VSP, VTSP, Working on VCP-6

Fun fact: People friendly 😊 I like to meet and know new people.

 

 

We’re happy to welcome these folks on board as catalysts for customer success. Follow them on communities to track their progress, message them to welcome them to our thriving community ecosystem, and follow @VMTNcommunity on Twitter for updates on the program.

And don’t forget to bookmark communities in your browser: VMTN Communities.

NOTE: these additions to the ecosystem do not cannibalize our Community Warrior program, or our VMTN User Moderators, both of whom volunteer their time to make our community great.

For further information on status/badge levels, visit the Community Rewards Points System FAQ or for questions around this program, email the VMTN Community Manager, katieb@vmware.com.

Congratulations to #VMTN Community Warrior: @iiliev

*Submit a nomination for the next VMTN Community Warrior*

I’d like to extend my congratulations a full 6,500 miles to our newest Community Warrior… In Sofia, Bulgaria. Thank you @iiliev for your contributions to VMTN and to VMware as a Staff Engineer. Welcome to the Community Warrior Hall of Fame!

How did @iiliev get here? He was nominated by Hazenet, twice. Once in February when the program started, and once more this month. He was also nominated by tschoergez who said:

He is the most active member in the vRealize Orchestrator forums https://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vcenter/orchestrator?view=discussions, Answering questions quickly and with super high quality information.

After gaining a whopping 6,120 points in this one community, I’d have to agree. You are a vRealize Orchestrator community star @iiliev.

I would also like to take a second, before letting @iiliev speak for himself, to reflect on the current Community Warrior ratio:

  • 2 U.S. based users
  • 1 New Zealand resident
  • 6 Europeans

VMTN: Stay Connected… To other customers near and far. *pause for chills*

Moving on… The VMTN team had the privilege of talking to @iiliev about his experience on VMTN in more detail. Check it out:

K: How were you originally introduced to communities and what inspired you to stay involved?

I: I subscribed to VMTN back in 2009. Initially, I wasn’t very active, but later I started to contribute when I gained more knowledge about the product, inspired by other active contributors (cdecanini_, Burke-, and tschoergez, to name a few). I believe having a friendly and helpful forum/community is essential for every successful product.

K: I completely agree! What have you gained through your involvement with VMTN?

I: VMTN forums turned out to be a direct and fast way to get in touch with the customers, and to find out what their real problems are with the product. It is surprising how often you can learn something new while trying to answer a seemingly easy question. And it is always rewarding to see happy customers whose day has been saved by your answers.

Sometimes, it could also have more direct impact; eg. spending 10 minutes educating the customer how to troubleshoot an issue or writing a sample code snippet could prevent opening an official SR costing your team several days/weeks to resolve.

K: Interesting – what is your job at VMware? Is answering community questions a part of your job description?

I: I’m part of vRO R&D team, working on developing the future versions and supporting the current versions of the product. Answering community questions is not a strict requirement for my job, but I think all VMware engineers should be encouraged to do it. It is beneficial for both parties.

K: Why do you believe vRealize Orchestrator is an amazing product?

I: Who is saying this? 😊 vRO definitely has some rough edges, but it is also a very powerful and flexible product, and if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, it could do almost everything related to automating/orchestrating tasks. And it is free (sort of)! Everyone loves free stuff, right?

K: Wise words! Thanks for your time and congratulations again.

If you are interested on picking @iiliev’s brain on vRealize Orchestrator, VMware, or VMTN, you can follow him here:

VMTN: @iiliev

Posting great content like:

Technical Preview version of VMware vRealize Orchestrator plug-in for vAPI

Do you see someone frequently answering questions in your favorite forums? Did someone provide server saving 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 katieb@vmware.com.

Community Warrior: Cheers to 10 Years

*With the below announcement, nominations are now open for the next Community Warrior*

Please join me in congratulating VMware Technology Network’s newest Community Warrior. This man is a jack-of-all-VMware products, dedicated to sharing his knowledge with others, and well known throughout the communities… @a.p.… Congratulations!!

André has several reasons to be proud of his involvement on VMTN. I will take the liberty to name a few…

  • May 18 André celebrated 10 years of membership on VMTN
  • He holds the #1 spot on the All-Time Communities Leaderboard
  • He has achieved both vExpert and User Moderator status several years in a row
  • His peers, for example @Wila who nominated him, speak of his knowledge and selflessness…

“He’s the real warrior as he is able to – and does – help out all across the board with the most advanced topics. He has an incredible amount of knowledge and is very good at getting problems solved.”

The facts outlined above speak volumes, check out what André had to say for himself:

K: How were you originally introduced to communities and what inspired you to stay involved?

A: I subscribed to VMTN after moving to a new company – a VMware partner – almost exactly 10 years ago. For the first ~2 years I used communities as a resource to learn and search for help. Inspired by all these great people on VMTN, like Troy, Ulli, Woody, Brian, Wil, and many others, I started contributing, and I still enjoy helping people around the globe, no matter whether it’s a newbie question, or an issue which requires advanced troubleshooting. Another reason for me to stay active in the communities is that I’ve been a user moderator several years now.

K: What have you gained through your involvement with VMTN?

A: Short version: Knowledge and friends!

Long version: VMTN is one of the most active communities that I’m aware of. As an IT consultant it’s important for me to be up to date. Vendor documentations usually describe how things are supposed to work, but the communities also contain a lot of information about issues, and possible fixes, quite often prior to the knowledge base. It’s always great if users provide feedback once their issues are resolved. Over the years, quite some users contacted me to say thanks. What more could one want?

K: What is your area of expertise when it comes to VMware products?

A: My main focus is on server and client virtualization, i.e. vCenter Server, ESXi, Horizon View. In most cases my customer projects include setting up the required servers, networking, SAN, storage, and backup too. I’m also familiar with several other VMware products, but cannot focus on a single vendor’s products.

K: How did you become so well versed in the technical depths of so many products?

A: I’ve always been interested in technologies, and spend a lot of time reading documentations, KB articles, and community posts as well as “playing” with the products in my test lab. I also attended a few trainings at the beginning, and learned a lot from colleagues. It’s certainly also a matter of time, and experience to get the technical depth. I also had the opportunity to work as a Technical Editor on Brian Atkinson’s VCP-DCV 5.5 study guide, which “forced” me to deep dive into several product features.

K: What method would you recommend for someone trying to attain your level of knowledge?

A: Simply try to forget a lot of what you learned, and you will soon be on my level ;-)))

Seriously, the method (if it can be called a method at all) is to be interested, work with passion, willing to spend time, reading a lot, talking with others (face-to-face or e.g. on VMTN), setting up a test lab, break and fix. If possible, attend a training to get a good base knowledge on which you can build upon.

Thanks André for the amazing support and content you have added to communities over the past 10 years! Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!

If you’d like to contact André, please reach out to him by messaging him on VMTN: @a.p.

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

Turn the (App) Volume up for our Newest Community Warrior

Congratulations to this week’s VMware Community Warrior: @Ray_Handels. I could write Volumes about our newest 2017 Hall of Famer *pause for laughter* but his activity in the VMware App Volumes Community speaks for itself (1,151 points…).

Not a workstation management expert? Check out this brief video introduction:

Ray was nominated by sachindsharma (featured in the video above) for his involvement within the community, his seat on the App Volumes customer council, and his involvement in testing the latest and greatest App Volume builds as they roll out.

What makes Ray remarkable, is that he maintains a strong relationship upstream, with the VMware product team, and downstream, with customers like himself. He provides support to others in the forums, listens, and constructively communicates to the VMware product teams to improve App Volumes for all users.

Learn a bit more about how Ray manages these relationships…

K: What makes you passionate about VMware App Volumes and answering community questions?

R: I have been in workstation management for over 8 years but haven’t seen anything like App Volumes (formerly known as CloudVolumes) for our environment. The technique and idea, providing the application to the user while he is actually logging in, was a perfect fit for our business model as we never know what user is logging in to what machine.

Also, the writable volume feature enables us to provide users with a virtual machine, but they don’t even know that they are actually using a virtual machine because they get all of their applications and settings. Looking at the applications progress from CloudVolumes 1.8 (yes, we did use that version) to 2.12.1, which we are using now, it’s great to see where the program is going.

K: You have a unique relationship with the VMware App Volumes product team… Tell me a bit about that.

R: We started using the application as one of the first customers worldwide and really believed in it’s technical features. Because the old team was (and still is) very customer driven we had multiple sessions with people like Jason Marshall (product engineering) and Matt Connover about what features we would like to see added to the product, and tested a lot of those features for them. This gave us a unique opportunity to be a part of the building process for App Volumes.

K: How can community members get as involved with our product teams as you are?

R: I’d say the best way to start is to be active on the forums, not only to ask questions and take information, but also to share knowledge with other customers. The larger and more active the user base, the better the products will be for customers and users.

Screen Shot 2017-05-08 at 9.33.59 AM

Thanks Ray!

Contact Ray with any follow-up questions here:

VMTN: @Ray_Handels

LinkedIn: Raymond Handels

Twitter: @raymondhandels

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

A Certified Community Warrior

*With the below announcement, nominations are now open for the next Community Warrior*

Are you an individual who has achieved a VMware certification in the past 10 years? If so, you may recognize our newest Community Warrior’s handle: @scott28tt. Congratulations to Scott Vessey!

Screen Shot 2017-04-24 at 11.42.54 AM

Scott is a VMware employee who goes above and beyond his call of duty in helping the community. Scott holds over 14,000 community points, with 7,000+ in the Certification community, where he answers questions daily, helping others achieve their VCA, VCP, VCAP, VCIX, and VCDX.

I encourage anyone working towards passing these exams to visit the forums for advice, resources, and content provided by others, like Scott, who have been in your shoes. This information is invaluable.

Thanks for submitting such a well-deserved nomination lilesj!

I had a chance to pick Scott’s brain on behalf of the community…

Tell us a bit about what you do at VMware.

The organization I work for designs, develops, and manages all field-specific training programs, both technical and non-technical, for employees and partners. I’ve worked at VMware for just over 5 years, and my current role is to help the technical pre-sales folks in EMEA be the best at what they do!

I work with EMEA Systems Engineering leadership and managers to help determine who needs to know what, reviewing existing and desired skill levels, and creating and rolling out both corporate-wide and locally-developed training programs.

Ah, so customer certification is not a part of your day-to-day responsibilities. What makes you passionate about helping customers who post in the certification communities?

This goes back to when I worked as a VMware Certified Instructor – I took myself online into the communities and into other forums as an extension of the kinds of discussions that would be had in the classroom with students working towards their certification. I found there were a lot of people online who needed guidance and help – what to me was simple, everyday knowledge, could be very useful for others to understand.

What was the most recent VMware certification you received and what was the first?

Passing the VCP550D exam to recertify my VCP5-DCV, which also extended my VCP4-DCV, VCP3, and my first VMware certification – VCP2

How can our community members contact you with any follow-up questions?

VMTN: @scott28tt

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmtraining

Blog: http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com

Email: vmtraining.blog@vmware.com

For more information around VMware certifications, visit the forums, check out the latest VMware Community Podcast with Karl Childs and Eric Nielsen, or visit MyLearn.

Congratulations again Scott – thanks for all of your contributions to VMTN! I speak for the community when I say, thanks for cutting down queries to help so many customers achieve certifications. You are truly a Community Warrior.

Talk Techy – The VMTN Podcast Program

Do you host a podcast around virtualization, storage, networking, or a key VMware subject area? Do you have a favorite podcast about technology? Would you like to explore relevant podcasts around technical topics?

Screen Shot 2017-04-14 at 11.55.00 AM

VMware Technology Network would like to help further connect our 3 million+ members by building and publishing a comprehensive list of favorite community podcasts, for your enjoyment. We are working to build our Podcasts community into said list, but we need your help.

If you host a podcast, or know of a technical podcast involving key VMware topics and would like to share it with the community, you only need to provide the following:

  • Name of podcast
  • Link to podcast
  • A 2-sentence abstract explaining the subject matter
  • Host information
  • Specific topics covered

This information can be submitted here: https://goo.gl/forms/GgM8kuEllYw8gVcL2. Any podcast submitted may be subject to promotion through VMTN and vExpert social channels.

Go ahead, take a minute and submit now; contribute to the education and entertainment of the VMware community.

Follow these channels for updates:

Please reach out to katieb@vmware.com with any questions.

Discover VMware Technology Network – Global Forums

Discover VMTN is a blog series that will bring to light the features and functionality within the communities platform that are lesser known, but incredibly useful. This week we start with…

VMTN Global Forums by Language

VMware has offices in 20+ countries, vmware.com has 30+ localized sites, but last month, VMware Technology Network had only a few scatted forums dedicated to enabling peer-to-peer conversations for our global customers.

That gap has been filled with the launch of VMTN Global Forums.

Screen Shot 2017-03-29 at 3.13.23 PM

Communities are an integral part of being a VMware customer. When a customer buys, deploys, or builds on a VMware product, they become a part of the VMware Technology Network, or as our bigger community ecosystem is sometimes called, the vCommunity. VMTN Global Forums by Language now provides a platform to share knowledge, resources, opinions, and gain support, for customers worldwide.

These Forums each have a committed moderator who regulates content to ensure that there is no third-party advertising, and that VMTN’s Code of Conduct is maintained. Check out our list of new Forums and their moderators:

French: @LucD ; @FranckRookie

Italian: @ldelloca

Polish: @inleo

Russian: @AntonVZhbankov

Spanish: @dquintana

Brazilian Portuguese: @rcporto

Japanese: @gowatana

Arabic: @MRoushdy

German: @wila ; @peetz ; @schepp ; @a.p.

Turkish: @ademyetim

Indonesian:@bayupw

So now it comes down to this… Did you deploy a VMware product today? How? Are you upgrading your vSphere from 5.5 to 6? Have you? Head to the forums and engage, whether it’s answering discussions or starting them – from where ever you are in the world.