If you have trouble to understand vSphere API when you first use it, you are definitely not alone. I had the same trouble when I first used it a while back.
Some of the troubles come from the disconnect between conventional programming model and that of vSphere API. In this blog, I summarize the top 5 myths about vSphere API based on my experience and the questions I see in the VMware community forum and vSphere Java API forum:
- Non-existing Managed Objects
- Pervasive PropertyCollector
- Short-Lived Task Object
- “Weak” HostSystem
- “Un-documented” View
Let’s examine each of them one by one. Read more »
Author: Steve Jin is the author of VMware VI and vSphere SDK (Prentice Hall), creator of VMware vSphere Java API. For future articles, please subscribe to RSS or Email, and follow on Twitter.
When I start to use a new API/SDK, I always look for the object model diagram before digging into the API Reference. With that, I can have a good overview of the API, from the concepts to the structure. This can save a lot of time.
Unfortunately, we don’t find such a object model diagram in any official document. The following is the UML diagram from my book VMware VI and vSphere SDK. Read more »
Author: Steve Jin is the author of VMware VI and vSphere SDK (Prentice Hall), creator of VMware vSphere Java API. For future articles, please subscribe to RSS or Email, and follow on Twitter.
Last summer, Reflex VP engineering Aaron Bawcom visited VMware campus. He is one of the authors of Virtualization For Security: Including Sandboxing, Disaster Recovery, High Availability, Forensic Analysis, And Honeypotting.
During our talk, Aaron told me a secret project called VQL. Because it’s a secret, I didn’t talk about it to anyone. Just before the PEX 2010, we exchanged emails about the VQL. Aaron told me it’s already shipped. So it’s time to broadcast it.
VQL is a DSL that looks like SQL, easy to understand and easy to use. Unlike SQL on data, it’s on virtual resources in vSphere environment. The following is a quick sample. It gets back the VMs installed with SQL servers with verions newer than 9.2 and they are running 10 minutes ago.
SQL Server and VersionMajor >= 9 and VersionMinor >= 2 project vm at 10 minutes ago
Read more »
Author: Steve Jin is the author of VMware VI and vSphere SDK (Prentice Hall), creator of VMware vSphere Java API. For future articles, please subscribe to RSS or Email, and follow on Twitter.
Several years ago, I tried to install SAP NetWeaver. It took me more than a day, and N installations plus N-1 removals before I finally got it right. I searched with several search engines and read many forum postings on SDN. Hinted by one post, I renamed the 13 character machine name to 9 characters, then the magic happened all of sudden.
The result wasn’t too bad but one day of time wasted. Many things could be improved to avoid the pain there. The foremost is the installer – why didn’t it check the hostname and alert me of the limitation?
At that time, I didn’t know VMware. After joining VMware, I knew more about virtualization and realized that a virtual appliance (VA) could have been a big time saver for me had the NetWeaver been packaged as a VA.
The pain as such can easily push potential customers away. It would be a different story if you have somewhat dominance in the market like SAP in enterprise ERP – you can charge big bucks for consulting and training services. Most other ISVs are not in such a position. Even for SAP, it faces strong competitions from others like Oracle.
As a side note, SAP has a virtualized NetWeaver evaluation edition. More info can be found about the SAP-VMware partnership.
In general, ISVs can leverage virtual appliances in two different ways: Read more »
Author: Steve Jin is the author of VMware VI and vSphere SDK (Prentice Hall), creator of VMware vSphere Java API. For future articles, please subscribe to RSS or Email, and follow on Twitter.
Several folks asked me about how to use vSphere(VI) Java API to connect to a VM running on vSphere. The quick answer is vSphere Java API is not designed for this. You will need VMware Remote Console, browser plug-in, remote desktop/VNC, SSH client etc. However, it can help you to get the information required by the console or plug-in. Tal Altman from CISCO suggested that it be a topic for doublecloud.org. Here it is.
There are 3 ways to connect to the VM from your client side outside the vSphere and Web Access which have built-in support for console access.
- Using VMware Remote Console which is a standalone application
- Using browser plug-in to either IE or Firefox (Note: this is NOT supported by VMware. Please don’t call the company tech support for this.)
- Using Remote Desktop, VNC or SSH
The first two connect to the ESX host, and work even there is no guest OS installed on the VM. The last one assumes you have guest OS installed, and have IP network and server components in place already.
Note that these 3 ways work for the VMs in the public cloud as well if the related ports are open in your firewall. It is, however, not the case for most enterprises, therefore I particularly say it’s for VMs in private cloud. If you don’t have firewall issue, feel free to give it a try with public cloud as well.
Let’s go over one by one in details and see how vSphere Java API helps. Read more »
Author: Steve Jin is the author of VMware VI and vSphere SDK (Prentice Hall), creator of VMware vSphere Java API. For future articles, please subscribe to RSS or Email, and follow on Twitter.
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