Last week an issue was reported with using vSphere SDK 4.1 to connect vSphere 4.0. The problem is related to the HTTP header called “SOAPAction” introduced in vSphere SDK 4.0. A recent KB article introduced this header, but with a minor error. I will talk about it in the end.
With vSphere SDK 4.1, the SOAPAction header has a value of “urn:vim25/4.1” while 4.0 has “urn:vim25/4.0”. For an older version of vSphere server, either vCenter or ESX/ESXi, it has no idea of the new value of SOAPAction, therefore refuse to serve. But the other way around works just fine because the newer version of vSphere knows about the older value but also support the older version of SDK directly. As a result, any application using older version of SDK works with newer version of vSphere. I am not saying your application can leverage new features. In fact, you cannot and must upgrade to do so.
From the SDK part, I found it’s a little disturbing when your newer SDK cannot work with older vSphere. We all expert newer SDK are better and back compatible. That is why Read more... (555 words, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)
Inspired by the book Made to Stick – Why do some ideas thrive while others die? by Heath brothers, I would like to give it a try on software platforms rather than the ideas covered in the book. Although the computer industry is still relatively young compared with other industries, it’s quite dynamic and we’ve seen some platforms came and died while others came and thrive. So, what are the general characteristics for such sticky platforms?
The authors of the book summarized the 6 principals to make ideas stick, meaning the ideas change either the thoughts or/and behaviors of the receivers. These principals are Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Credibility, Concreteness, Emotions, and Stories. They are shortened to SUCCESs for easy memory.
Most of these principals don’t apply on software platforms. Unexpectedness, for example, may be the last thing you would like to see of a software platform. For software platform, we definitely need predictability, among other qualities.
After thinking the problem over, I summarized 4 basic principles for a software platform to stick: Simplicity, Extensibility, Ecosystem, and Developers, in short SEED. Read more... (700 words, 1 image, estimated 2:48 mins reading time)
During last Friday VMware beer bash, I bumped into Carter Shanklin. He told me he’s ready show off how his Onyx project can help Java developers using VI Java API at Partner Exchange next week in Las Vegas. If you will be there, be sure to attend his session TEXIBP1007 – also known as “Getting Stoned with ‘Project Onyx’” on Thursday at 11:30. Read more... (180 words, estimated 43 secs reading time)
I posted two blogs on the top 10 best practices of using the vSphere SDK (part 1, part 2) two days ago. Here is a list of several common mistakes developers make during their development. It’s based on the stats from our SDK support team. Read more... (111 words, estimated 27 secs reading time)
- Defining wrong interval information in PerfQuerySpec
- Using same unit number for each device attached to a controller
- Mistakes in defining the TraversalSpec
- Using case sensitive DNS names or IP address
English
Recent Comments