It is very easy to focus on the speeds and feeds of a new major vSphere release such as vSphere 7 which also includes a TON of new and exciting capabilities. However, often times it is the tiny improvements that has the most significant impact to our end users, especially when it comes to usability and operations. In fact, this was further reinforced by Frank Denneman's post on the Reddit with similiar observations.
I have been using vSphere 7 since it was released back in April and I have been discovering a number of new vSphere UI enhancements that has really delighted my overall user experience. I had been sharing these enhancements on Twitter, but figured it was worth a blog post given most of these features were not well known.
Do you have a favorite new feature in vSphere 7 that might not be well known? If so, share by leaving a comment below.
1. Enhanced VM Summary
I’m really digging the new VM Summary view in the #h5client with #vSphere7, especially with details about any snapshots you might have running! My only pet peeve is the gap of space at the very top /cc @APrabhudev pic.twitter.com/IRofUvMpaQ
— William Lam (@lamw.bsky.social | @*protected email*) (@lamw) April 21, 2020
2. Update and Patch Notifications
First patch release for vSphere with Kubernetes is now available
See Release Notes for more details https://t.co/QxDYa7rmTr
Its also really cool to see the vSphere UI is also aware of the update and has nice notification along w/link to RN 🙂 pic.twitter.com/xKYJPfQRGs
— William Lam (@lamw.bsky.social | @*protected email*) (@lamw) May 19, 2020
3. ESXi Firmware and Driver View
I just noticed the new enhancements made to ESXi “Hardware” view in #h5client for vSphere 7. Really digging the Firmware section which cleanly & clearly lays out the various devices/components along the specific driver claiming each device which is super useful! pic.twitter.com/OsNPUDaPuj
— William Lam (@lamw.bsky.social | @*protected email*) (@lamw) June 15, 2020
4. ESXi Installation Date + Software Package Details
Pleasantly discovered two new #vSphere7 UI features this morning while using the #h5client
Navigate to ESXi Host->Configure->System->Packages
Can now see ESXi Install Date + all VIB/Components nicely listed!
Wrote about Install Date API 4yrs ago https://t.co/QXKQnGNvhj
— William Lam (@lamw.bsky.social | @*protected email*) (@lamw) June 28, 2020
5. Terminate "stuck" VM
In rare case you have pesky VM that is “stuck”, it looks like we’ve now exposed the Kill (Terminate) cmd under the VM Power Operations. No need for SSH/ESXCLI
I initially noticed this with the latest #VMWonAWS release but looks like its made its way into vSphere 7.0b too!
— William Lam (@lamw.bsky.social | @*protected email*) (@lamw) June 28, 2020
Here are two additional non-UI features that I came to learn about in vSphere 7 that you might also be interested in: Support for HTTPS using wget on ESXi and Guest Customization support for Instant Clones.