WilliamLam.com

VCF 9.1 - Auditing vCenter Server Connections using the Connection Utilization API

by // Leave a Comment

vCenter Server has had the ability to audit vSphere logins, whether through the API or UI, for nearly two decades using vSphere Events, which provide detailed information on who connected, when the login occurred and the client IP address associated with the session.

While looking up something in the latest vSphere 9.1 Automation REST API, I came across a new Connection Utilization API that provides visibility into all HTTP and HTTPS connections established with vCenter Server.

While most organizations deploy vCenter Server on a dedicated management network as a best practice, it does not eliminate the possibility of unexpected or unauthorized connections. Having additional visibility into those connections and the ability to audit them can help organizations quickly identify and investigate suspicious activity.

[Read more...]

VCF 9.1 - Are You Using the Correct ESXCLI Command to Enable NVMe Tiering?

by // 2 Comments

Historically, enabling NVMe Tiering prior to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 was not very user friendly, as it required users to remember three distinct ESXCLI commands.

# Enable or Disable NVMe Tiering
esxcli system settings kernel set -s MemoryTiering -v TRUE

# Configure the Tiering % 
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /Mem/TierNvmePct -i 100

# Configure NVMe device for with NVMe Tiering
esxcli system tierdevice create -d /vmfs/devices/disks/${NVME_TIERING_DEVICE}

By now, most users have probably made a mental note of these commands, with some even incorporating them into their automated ESX Kickstart deployments (example), so it is something you do not have to remember.

VCF 9.1 introduces a new method for enabling and configuring NVMe Tiering that is significantly simpler and no longer requires a system reboot. As a result of these improvements, the ESXCLI commands used in previous releases will no longer properly enable NVMe Tiering in VCF 9.1 and later.

I have seen an increasing number of users, both internally and externally, report that they have enabled NVMe Tiering, only to discover that it was never properly activated due to the use of the legacy ESXCLI commands.


Users will typically share a screenshot from vCenter Server similar to the one above, and there are two dead giveaways that NVMe Tiering was not properly enabled.

  • The first is the traditional memory capacity view, which does not reflect the combined memory capacity based on the configured NVMe Tiering ratio.
  • The second is the new Memory Tiering widget in the vSphere UI, where the Tier 1 capacity, representing the NVMe Tiering device capacity, shows a value of 0.

[Read more...]

VCF 9.1 - OCuLink External Graphics (eGPU) Passthrough with vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS)

by // Leave a Comment

The Minisforum MS-A2 continues to be a popular and versatile platform for running VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 in a lab environment. While the MS-A2 may be small in size, it is surprisingly capable and can even be configured to support an NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada (20GB VRAM) GPU, which I had used to deploy VMware Private AI Services (PAIS).

Although there are several half-height GPUs that can fit in an MS-A2, the overall selection remains relatively limited. For users looking for additional GPU flexibility, the MS-A2 supports an OCuLink half-height PCIe card, enabling the use of a much broader range of discrete GPUs.


Thanks to a fellow colleague who recently shared their success with me using this setup on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, including GPU passthrough to vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) cluster for AI experimentation, below are the specific BOM details for those interested.

[Read more...]