Well, here we are… vExpert nominations have been submitted, the data reviewed and the decisions unveiled as to whom represents the 2013 year of #vExperts and I am humbled and honored to be allowed to continue as a part of this absolutely awesome club.

To get a good feel for who are some of the members of this crazy and wild community that we’re a part of you can see the official list here;
vExpert 2013 Awardees announced

Oh and my fellow #vExperts be sure to take advantage of these folks who support our ability to continue to support the community!
Tintri free polo shirts for #vExperts with your Twitter handle on them!

2013 vExperts, come get a free one-year subscription to TrainSignal!

But enough with the lovefest for us, right?! Albeit… if you’re a new vExpert this year be sure you come say hi, introduce yourself within the community and amongst ourselves!

Some of you may ask the question, “With all this talk about vExperts, how do I become one too?!?!”
The Non-definitive guide to the VMware vExpert Program, Tips, Tricks, How to become a vExpert!

Last year I published this accord to give you a glimpse into the vExpert life, and even some tips on how to make this a reality. Well, with nominations over, and those aligned to 2013 chosen there’s no better time than the present to start fulfilling your destiny to ensure that when this time comes around again in 2014 you too will be on that list. The thing is, being a vExpert isn’t something arbitrary and it doesn’t come lightly. A lot of us eat, sleep and breathe Virtualization. Not because we’re paid to, but because it is a PART of us. It’s important to know that if you should so choose a future like this for yourself… there may be some responsibility resting upon your shoulders… That’s all I’m saying. :)

I congratulate my fellow vExperts and yes for those of you who have been asking, I WILL be attending VMworld 2013 in San Francisco this year, all of my flights have been booked to take me away from this beautiful desert warzone I’ve been spending my time in so I can enjoy my time with all of you and my family for a few weeks! And yes, this does mean there will be #CXIDinners as well! More details on that to come!

Congratulations all of you, this year just got even more interesting!

CAT OUT!

/@cxi

Cannot import patch definitions and patches from an incompatible source

Incompatible Repository. Provide a repository from VMware vSphere Update Manager Download Service 5.0.0 to 5.0.0 Update 1
Incompatible Repository. Provide a repository from VMware vSphere Update Manager Download Service 5.0.0 to 5.0.0 Update 2

I know what you might be saying, WTF?! "I’ve gotten that error before, yet there’s no solution documented anywhere!" Damn straight! And it’s documented here, now!

STOP IT DAMNIT, GET TO THE POINT, WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?!?!?

The simple answer is, you’ll get this error (and various iterations of it) when you have a firewall blocking you from connecting the vCenter server to the destination VUM Server. So clear those firewall rules, get those ports opened up, and BAM! YOU BE GOOD!

Also, there are some other scenarios whereby this will happen and it’ll be due to the URL you’re entering incorrectly, like ending it wrong, appending a “/” or various other iterations, if that’s the challenge you’re facing the solutions for that are well documented, unfortunately the “Firewall blocking” option is NOT documented. :)

If you find this helps you, let me know!

Here are some of the top questions I’ve been getting lately since I’ve been here in Afghanistan.

Why the hell are you in Afghanistan?!   What are you DOING there?!

I mean, sure I was a little… obtuse about details, for safety and security reasons when I shared things initially in my post Taking a stand and serving my country; or WTF is @CXI doing in Afghanistan?!? but I think I’m comfortable answering a few of these questions for you :)

So on the initial question, WHY am I here – refer to my blog post above and I think you’ll get that answered pretty easily! But more importantly…

What am I actually doing here!

So, I eluded to doing things with Storage… Virtualization… Cloud… etc.   Well, here is a little low-down at the best I can possibly offer you. :)

In 2011 Afghanistan NATO and International forces had ~800 bases or so, and then started closing down or transferring bases, take the 202 bases closed in 2012 alone and as we are here in 2013, more and more bases are being closed as we ready for the complete draw-down slated to finish Dec 31 2014.   So, you’re asking WTF ARE YOU DOING, STOP STALLING!  :)  

Where I come in, is as these bases start to close up, there’s infrastructure which gets decommissioned, data-centers closed, services shut down or consolidated.   And as the Afghanistan theatre and country lead for Virtualization and all the fun that falls underneath that… Well, let’s just say… There’s a whole lot of fun that falls underneath that! Between the sites which are shutting down and the ones which will continue running for a long time to come. :)  

Hopefully this gives you a little bit of an idea of what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, and all of the evolution and change which goes with that!   I’ll provide more details, stories and so much more as time goes on, you can’t even begin to imagine the challenges and woes of high tech infrastructure in a warzone and as applicable I’ll share those stories here, at conference and beyond when I come home!    Also, I’m planning to do some ‘virtual’ VMUGs here for the guys on the ground who haven’t had that experience and if you’re a speaker/presenter who would like to try to remotely present let me know!

Some of you ask about sending me letters, care packages and what-not, feel free to send whatever you’d like to me at the address below!

Christopher Kusek
JNCC-A Task Force Signal
APO, AE 09354

I wish you all the best and don’t hesitate to reach out to me in the short and the long-term!   Eventually I’ll be coming home and the eventual adventures I’ll pursue when I come home, Safely.  :)

It’s the End of January, 2013 is finally here, so the first thing on your mind should obviously be… VMWORLD!!!

For those of you who attended last year, you might recall OMG I HAVE TO TAKE A TAXI, BART OR CAR FROM THE SFO AIRPORT?!?!

Yea, that’s right. Because you didn’t book your hotel soon enough.  It’s not your fault that San Francisco effectively has like, 3 hotels which aren’t an arm and a leg expensive.   But that doesn’t mean you need to suffer through this indignation again!   Do what *most* of us truthfully did…   We booked our hotels MONTHS and MONTHS in advance!   Here are a few cute little facts:

• Hotels unlike Airline tickets can be booked out a bazillion years in advance
• Hotels unlike Airline tickets can be CANCELLED as close as up to 24hrs in advance without paying any fees
• Hotels will often fill up the “Cheap” rooms as they’re sold on a tiered basis, so you can lock in a good room for a good rate EARLY.

So what does this all mean?

OMG VMWORLD IS AUG 26-29 2013 – BOOK YOUR HOTEL NOW!!!

I mean, you can pre-register if you want as well, but I know some of you won’t know what your training budget looks like, sometimes upwards of DAYS before you’re supposed to attend.   So I encourage you… book your walking distance hotel now from the Moscone instead of booking it days before-hand with a 30-60 minute commute staying at the SFO Airport or somewhere else horribly ridiculous.

And worst case scenario, you don’t get your budget? Well, then just cancel your hotel room and it goes back into the pool, no harm no foul.

Pro-Tip: I’ve actually found that sometimes using the VMworld sanctioned hotel code/etc to actually make the room MORE Expensive, so don’t use that as an excuse.   Get ahead of this before you regret it later :)

THIS HAS BEEN A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT. HAD THIS BEEN A REAL EMERGENCY, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN COOKIES.

I’ve been planning on posting this for quite some time. Seriously, like a LONG time. It’s not much. It’s not complicated. It’s actually VERY straight forward!

So the story goes… I somehow got my hands on this handy dandy little CARD, and I thought, “Hey, not everyone knows about these awesome quick reference resources! They probably should!” Well, here is the CARD itself… and a copy of the resources so you too can share in its wonder!

VMware Global Support Services: Important Links

• Support and Downloads: vmware.com/support
• Support Requests: vmware.com/support/contacts
• Knowledge Base: kb.vmware.com
• Renewals: vmware.com/go/renew
• Product Support Centers: vmware.com/support/product-support
• Technical Support Guide: vmware.com/go/supportguide
• Licensing Help: vmware.com/support/licensing
• Customer Support Days: vmware.com/go/supportdays

VMware Social Support

Blogs

• Support Insider: blogs.vmware.com/kb
• KBTV: blogs.vmware.com/kbtv
• KB Digest: blogs.vmware.com/kbdigest

Communities

• Communities: communities.vmware.com

Twitter

• @VMwareCares: twitter.com/vmwarecares
• @VMwareKB: twitter.com/vmwarekb

YouTube

• KBTV: youtube.com/user/VMwareKB

Hopefully you found this remotely interesting, useful or something else… Now I can comfortably… DESTROY this card. :) MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!