To prove the "power" of icomasoft PowerScripter,Dennis Zimmer, CTO of icomasoft decided to change the Quick Migration Script Mike DiPetrillo has published to work with PowerScripter.
That script does the same as the Quick Migration feature of Hyper-v (Suspend, Relocate to new host, Resume).

There are a couple of real advantages: no VirtualCenter choice and seperate (unsecure) logon (you´re already logged on), and the vm is chosen because you right click on it within the VirtualCenter inventory.
That saves a lot of time and avoids scripting VirtualCenter login process and most select boxes.

After the install of the PowerScripter Plugin (currently beta 2) on your VI client workstation just drop the Quick Migrate file into the VMscripts folder and restart the PowerScripter plugin (to recognize the new script).

Now you can right click on the virtual machine that should be migrated and choose "Quick Migrate my VM".

The Script checks for connected medias and can disconnect them (if you click yes). Now all valid hosts are shown within a select box and you click on one.

Now everything works like Mike´s script but you see a progress bar during the migration process.


You can find PowerScripter here: www.powerscripter.net
You can find the Quick Migrate Script for PowerScripter here: http://www.icomasoft.com/forum/showthread.php?p=20#post20

Icomasoft, a great start-up company from my friend Dennis Zimmer, launched the new Beta 2 of there VI PowerScripter product.

VI PowerScripter beta 2, an extremely powerful tool that drastically reduces the time and efforts for administrative tasks and workflows in virtual environments, is available as of September 19, 2008

• Execution of PowerShell scripts through a dynamic context menu (usually no customization required)
• Use of VM or host-based PowerShell scripts
• Execution of scripts on single and multiple objects(Cluster, Datacenter)
• Choice between debug and silent mode
• Use of local scripts or network scripts
• User-defined and almost unlimited extension of VI Client and VirtualCenter functionality
• Execution of all PowerShell scripts with correct VirtualCenter permissions
• Logging of all script executions
• Use of standard icomasoft® scripts
• Monitoring of PowerScripter activities
• Intergration of PowerGUI for editing and debugging

You finde more information about this great tool on the website of icomasoft:

Icomasoft Website
Icomasoft News
VI PowerScriper Product Website

It is divinely good to have a look on this product. With the VI PowerScripter you can use the VI Toolkit better and more effective.

Have fun with this great product.

There is an update fort he VI Toolkit released. Update 1 fix a bug with the “GET-VM” Commandlet. Some user reported very slow performance while using this Command. If you do not have problems with this command it is not necessary to update. There are not other updates or fixes included.  

VMware released today a great news. ESX is the first Hypervisor which is listed under the Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP).
With this certification, Microsoft offers cooperative technical support to customers running Windows Server on validated, non-Microsoft server virtualization software, such as VMware ESX 3.5 update 2.

So, now it is possible to use Microsoft Applications in a virtual machine under ESX 3.5 U2 with support from both companys.

Source

I had today a problem while I updated a VI Installation at the Customer. The funny thing is that my cousin called me a few hours later that he get the same problem. This is a known issue in Update 2.
If a Host which is working in a HA Cluster enter the Maintenance Mode the VM´s will not automatically migrated. Great VMware…

Check the release notes website here under the topic: “Virtual Machine Migrations Are Not Recommended When the ESX Server Host Is Entering the Maintenance or Standby Mode”

Richard Sarwal, executive vice president, research and development, VMware, has resigned in order to return to Oracle Corporation. Sarwal joined VMware from Oracle in December 2007.

Paul Maritz, president and chief executive officer, VMware, said, "We thank Richard for his service and we wish him well in the future. I expect to announce organizational changes to replace Richard in due course."

Effective immediately, Stephen Herrod, Ph.D, CTO and senior vice president of R&D, VMware, will assume day-to-day responsibilities for VMware's research and development organization. Dr. Herrod has been with VMware since 2001.

Resource

Duncan Epping, VMware employee and writer of the the blog www.yellow-bricks.com posted an interesting entry about the difference between ESX and ESXi.
There is a great KB article at VMware which describe all differences.   

You find the article here.

VMware just released a few new patches for VMware Workstation, VMware Player, VMware ACE, VMware Server and VMware ESX. I had no time today to check this patches but you find more information on this website. Click

Since the 30th of august the Windows Powershell VI Toolkit Scripting Contest is closed. I am very tense who will win this contest. 5000 $ is a lot of money for the first place.

Here you find information about the contest. Click

Its a long time ago I write an artice on my blog! I´m sorry for this! :(

There are some great news for VMware and Sun Server. Sun Fire x4140 and x4440 are certified for ESX 3.5. With this servers there are very powerful Servers on the list which can hold 8 internal disks. I see a bigger market in VI3 environments without shared storage. This server are perfect for this issue.

Website 4140

Website 4440

Greetungs,

Thomas 

To celebrate over 30,000 downloads for its free GUI management solution for VMware ESX, FastSCP, Veeam is releasing a new version today.

This update brings in some interesting features:

Disk space pre-allocation for vmdk files - when copying virtual machines, FastSCP will preallocate space for vmdk files to prevent fragmentation.

Ability to edit file attributes - FastSCP shows the properties for a file or folder, allowing users to set owner, group and permissions (the most common CHMOD commands) in a Windows GUI.

Scheduled copying - set file copies to occur at regular intervals or during off-peak hours.

Support for Linux systems - now users can manage all files in mixed Windows/Linux enterprises.

Download fore free here

VMware release the Update 1 for ESX 3.5, ESXi and VC 2.5

There are a lot of fixes and new support in this release.

Check the „What´s new“ notes here

Notice:

    New patches are available for ESX Server 3.0.1 and ESX Server 3.0.2.

    ESX Server patches can be accessed through the on-line ESX Server Patch Download tool:
    [http://app.connect.vmware.com/e/er.aspx?s=524&lid=2272&elq=4D5713F997F04342981A231DF09609D0“>]

    Please follow the instructions on the appropriate patch download page.

    VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 Patches

    ESX-1003516 (Critical): fixes an issue where snapshot of a Suspended Virtual Machine fails;includes a fix for Windows OEM CDs Installation Failure; fixes an issue where Virtual Machines stop responding When Updated with Symantec Virus Definition
    ESX-1003517 (Security):updates the e2fsprogs package
    ESX-1003518 (Critical):changes the default Multipath Policy;fixes an issue where ESX Server stops responding due to low COW Heap Memory;fixes an issue where ESX Server hosts stop responding due to a spinlock timeout;includes fixes for SysAlert Warning Message, Partially Disabled Processors
    ESX-1003520 (General):fixes an issue with the USB Subsystem and High-Speed USB HID Devices
    ESX-1003521 (Security):Updates the libxml2 Utility

    VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 Patches

    ESX-1003523 (Security):updates the e2fsprogs package
    ESX-1003524 (Critical):updates VMware-esx-vmkernel, VMware-esx-vmx, and VMware-esx-apps
    ESX-1003526 (General):fixes an issue with USB Subsystem and High-Speed USB HID
    ESX-1003527 (General):adds support for Ubuntu 7.10 GA
    ESX-1003528 (Security):updates the libxml2 Utility

    We expect the next patch release in late April 2008. If you have any questions, please contact support at 877-4-VMWARE. 

In VMware Workstation 6.5 beta 1, it is no longer possible to run ESX in a VM. This is because of some improvements that  have been made in the code that unfortunately also prevents ESX from running in a VM.

See this thread: http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117676?tstart=0

If you would also like to be able to run ESX in Workstation, post into this thread to make VMware aware how often you use this functionality.
 

This is just a short news.
VMware renamed the VMware ESX Server and VMware ESX 3i Server to VMware ESX and VMware ESXi