Boto3 was my first real attempt to work with an API interface. At the start, I had difficulty using the API response. This was partly due to only light exposure to Python. Also, an incorrect understanding of what the response was. When people talk about APIs, it’;s hard to go a minute without hearing “JSON format’;. I had seen JSON formatted text before. Combining this, with documentation displaying API call response in JSON formation, lead to a 2+2=5 scenario.

Recently I set about installing RancherOS. This was just to have a look and see what use cases it might help with. I chose to install RancherOS to a VM. In my case, VMware workstation. A roadblock I hit was providing an SSH key to the cloud-config.yml file. The roadblock specifically, how can I send a file to a system I don’;t have a password or SSH key for? This article covers, generating an SSH key, SSH access to live CD and installation to hard disk.

To describe a VPC is to retrieve the values of it attributes. A task we might perform to validate configuration. This article will demonstrate the following: Find VPC ID using filters Retrieve VPC configuration values Information on Boto3 can be found here. This post assumes that you already have a working Boto3 installation. Including IAM configuration to perform the task. If you have not, click here for the install document.

During my time deploying Palo Alto Traps. I noticed something a bit concerning with the Forensics Folder security. After verifying the discovery, I raised a ticket with PA. Which confirmed my findings. The PA Traps Forensics Folder, cannot support any authentication. To visit the offical Traps site, click here Traps Terms Overview ESM – Windows Servers which provide services to run PA Traps Endpoints – Windows devices (Laptop, Desktop, Server)

Eric Wright made a blog post titled: he Top 3 Skills Every IT Person Needs". It’;s an excellent article, focusing on technical skills. Skills you should be learning about to stay relevant. Eric made a number of points that I’;ve taken on board. Eric’;s post is the source of inspiration for this one. In the same spirit, I would like to address communication skills, rather than technical. Written Writing is complex, with rules which sometimes are hard to grasp.

What is Admin Count? Before we discuss Admin Count, a little background is needed. AD contains an object called AdminSDHolder. Its purpose is to protect objects. Specifically, objects which are members of administrative groups. AD objects have an attribute called “Admin Count”. The default value is for most objects. Changing the value to “1”, flags the account as protected by AdminSDHolder. By adding a user to an administrative AD group. You change the value to “1”.

I primarily use this PowerCLI script after performing VM migrations. The script output focuses on what changed during the migration. Specifically moving to hosts running a newer version of ESXi. The script is simple to modify and adapt to fit your specific needs. Using the Script To make use of the script, all that you need to do is set the $ClusterName and $Path values at the beginning. However, think of this not as a ‘run as it is’; script.

RackHD is an open source project from DellEMC Code. The goal is to provide hardware management and orchestration. In order to achieve this goal, RackHD uses standard out of band management protocols. To help you get started, the documentation provides some brief tutorials. When using a Windows system. You will notice a few items in the tutorial don’;t quite line up. Hopefully, this will help fill in the those gaps.

I recently needed to create a script for the purpose of migrating data. Due to complexity, a number of scripts were used. This post covers the script I created to remove illegal characters from directory names. Also adjusting for new directory paths. Migration Overview The migration had some quirks. Due to this, a simple A to B move wasn’;t an option. There was some restructuring and many folders were not to coming across.

VDM30in30 is a challenge from the Virtual Design Master crew. The aim is to produce 30 pieces of content in 30 days. This content can be in any format. If you don’;t reach the 30, that’;s ok. I did not reach the goal of 30 new content pieces. I ended up with 16 blog posts and 2 videos. The videos can be found on here. Experience with VDM30in30 Prior to VDM30in30, my blog only had 30 posts.

Operations managers Intelligent workload placement used to be a challenge. Systems such as VMware’;s DRS provided simplicity. Operations managers take workload placement to another level. Ops Managers maintain a holistic view of DC performance and health. They have a large base of information to make decisions on. The more sources of data the better the output. Detection of possible failure conditions can trigger an automatic evacuation. OPs managers provide a range of capabilities outside of workload placement.

Traditional application architecture is not optimal for cloud services. They are big, singular and designed to be always on. Cloud requires small, mobile applications which handle failure without impact. Cloud is constantly failing. Systems are crashing, misconfigurations etc. We see it as stable through application design. When we interact with cloud systems, we are interacting with systems designed for failure. When there is a failure, the application is able to remain functional.

Data gravity imposes a significant constraint on assessing where a workload should run. Workloads perform better when close to the source of data. Data latency has a tangible cost associated. The timing might be in milliseconds, but the impact can be significant. A business loses money when employees are waiting. Customers are not patient and will look elsewhere if services are slow. Storage vendors make significant investments to lower storage latency.