Run pfSense Plus on VMware vSphere 8

How to run pfSense Plus on VMware vSphere 8

Reading Time: < 1 minute

pfSense is a very powerful firewall and in this video, I will show you how to run pfSense Plus on VMware vSphere 8. By virtualizing pfSense you can now take advantage of the flexibility already there when using VMware vSphere 8.

You can find more information about pfSense in the links below:
https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/recipes/virtualize-esxi.html
https://www.pfsense.org/download/
https://www.netgate.com/pfsense-plus-software/software-types
https://shop.netgate.com/products/pfsense-software-subscription

How to run pfSense Plus on VMware vSphere 8 Read More
GPU Passtrough for Ubuntu VM running on VMware vSphere 8

Intel GPU passthrough for Ubuntu VM running on VMware vSphere 8

Reading Time: < 1 minute

In this video, I will show you how to set up GPU passthrough for an Intel GPU for a Ubuntu virtual machine running on VMware vSphere 8. This way you can use the performance that GPU has for transcoding, encoding, or decoding large video files without stressing the CPU on your VMware ESXi host.

Official documentation from Intel to install graphics drivers on Ubuntu can be found here. Below are all the commands I used to install the drivers on my Ubuntu virtual machine:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y gpg-agent wget

wget -qO - https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/intel-graphics.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor --output /usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg] https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/ubuntu jammy/production/2328 unified" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel-gpu-jammy.list

sudo apt-get update

wget -qO - https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/intel-graphics.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor --output /usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/intel-graphics.gpg] https://repositories.intel.com/gpu/ubuntu jammy unified" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel-gpu-jammy.list

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install -y intel-i915-dkms xpu-smi

sudo reboot -h now

sudo apt-get install -y \
  intel-opencl-icd intel-level-zero-gpu level-zero \
  intel-media-va-driver-non-free libmfx1 libmfxgen1 libvpl2 \
  libegl-mesa0 libegl1-mesa libegl1-mesa-dev libgbm1 libgl1-mesa-dev libgl1-mesa-dri \
  libglapi-mesa libgles2-mesa-dev libglx-mesa0 libigdgmm12 libxatracker2 mesa-va-drivers \
  mesa-vdpau-drivers mesa-vulkan-drivers va-driver-all vainfo hwinfo clinfo

sudo apt-get install intel-gpu-tools

sudo reboot -h now
Intel GPU passthrough for Ubuntu VM running on VMware vSphere 8 Read More
Set up a Two-Node VMware vSAN Cluster with vSAN 8.0

Set up a Two-Node VMware vSAN Cluster with vSAN 8.0

Reading Time: < 1 minute

In this video, I will show you how to set up a Two-Node VMware vSAN Cluster with vSAN version 8.0 and benefit from all the enterprise features you would get when using a dedicated SAN infrastructure.

Check the links below for more information on VMware vSAN:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/8.0/vsan-planning/GUID-18F531E9-FF08-49F5-9879-8E46583D4C70.html
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/8.0/vsan-planning/GUID-80EB3F83-E608-4F1F-8FDC-7CA9078E8922.html

Set up a Two-Node VMware vSAN Cluster with vSAN 8.0 Read More
Backup VMware Virtual Machines with Synology Active Backup for Business

Backup VMware Virtual Machines with Synology Active Backup for Business

Reading Time: < 1 minute

I am sure a lot of you are running your virtual machines on VMware. Now, if you have a Synology appliance (NAS) running in your network as well, no need to look further for a solid backup solution. You can read more about Synology Active Backup for Business here.

Utilize that Synology today and backup those virtual machines running on your VMware platform. It is easy, simple and fast.

Backup VMware Virtual Machines with Synology Active Backup for Business Read More
Upgrade VMware vCenter version 7 to version 8

Upgrade VMware vCenter version 7 to version 8

Reading Time: < 1 minute

In this video I will show you how to upgrade VMware vCenter version 7 to version 8.

Before upgrading make sure you have backups and snapshot available for your existing vCenter 7 and also keys to run version 8 of vCenter. Check the video to see all the steps needed. Read about VMware vCenter on the official VMware page here.

Upgrade VMware vCenter version 7 to version 8 Read More
Enable Transparant Page Sharing on VMware ESXi and save some money

Enable Transparent Page Sharing on VMware ESXi and save some money

Reading Time: < 1 minute

In this video I will show you how to enable Transparent Page Sharing on your VMware ESXi hosts.

I am sure a lot of you guys are using VMware ESXi and like me are running into memory limitations on your ESXi hosts. By enabling Transparent Page Sharing in ESXi you can create some extra headroom and optimize memory usage on your ESXi host. This option can save you some money because maybe…just maybe, this will be enough to get you going without investing in new hardware. It sure helped me a lot!

Read up more about Transparent Page Sharing in the articles from VMware here, and here because there are some things to consider from a security perspective.

Enable Transparent Page Sharing on VMware ESXi and save some money Read More