New Blog – GitHub Pages and Jekyll

30 December 2017 by

New Blog!

I’ve decided to make more effort sharing what I learn, so I’ve created a new blog: https://adamrushuk.github.io

Why?

Over the past year or so I’ve increasingly found myself on GitHub. Mainly looking at code, but also content served up on GitHub Pages; typically sites ending github.io.

I’ve been meaning to get back into blogging, so thought I’d give GitHub Pages a go and see how it compares to using WordPress.

A few clicks later and I arrived on the GitHub Help pages, and noticed Jekyll mentioned: https://help.github.com/categories/customizing-github-pages/

I’d never even heard of Jekyll before, so time for some Google-Fu!

What?

Looks like Jekyll generates static content, and also integrates directly with GitHub:

How?

So now I’ve got a vague idea of what Jekyll is, I need to choose a theme and do some testing on GitHub. The Minimal Mistakes theme looks popular and is still being actively developed: https://github.com/mmistakes/minimal-mistakes/pulse

There’s even a great install guide that looks easy enough to follow: https://mmistakes.github.io/minimal-mistakes/docs/quick-start-guide/

Let’s give this a go then!

Here’s the steps I took:

  1. Forked the Minimal Mistakes theme, then renamed the repo to adamrushuk.github.io
  2. Confirmed the default theme was showing as expected: https://adamrushuk.github.io

  3. Cloned my new repo: git clone [email protected]:adamrushuk/adamrushuk.github.io.git
  4. Added the original repo as an upstream remote: git remote add upstream https://github.com/mmistakes/minimal-mistakes.git
  5. Removed the following folders and files:
    .editorconfig
    .gitattributes
    .github
    /docs
    /test
    CHANGELOG.md
    minimal-mistakes-jekyll.gemspec
    README.md
    screenshot-layouts.png
    screenshot.png
  6. Updated information in _config.yml.
  7. Committed all changes with an “Initial commit” message: git commit -am “Initial commit after fork”
  8. Pushed the changes to GitHub: git push
  9. After about 1 minute the changes were reflected online:

  10. Went through the awesome step-by-step guide that details the many configuration options available: https://mmistakes.github.io/minimal-mistakes/docs/configuration/
Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: ,

Commands to troubleshoot connectivity through a vShield Edge

2 February 2017 by

Packet Capture

debug packet display interface INTERFACE host_EXTERNALIP-OF-DESTINATION-EDGE_and_tcp_port_PORT eg:
debug packet display interface any host_11.22.33.44_and_tcp_port_80
debug packet display interface vNic_0 udp
debug packet display interface vNic_0 icmp
debug packet display interface vNic_0 host_10.10.10.10
debug packet display interface vNic_0 tcp_src_port_53
debug packet display interface vNic_0 host_10.10.10.10
debug packet display interface any host_10.10.10.10_or_host_11.22.33.44

Useful Commands

list (lists all available commands)
show log follow
show tech-support
show nat
show flowtable topN 5NAT
show ip route

show system cpu
show system memory
show system network-stats
show system storage
show system uptime
show tech-support
show version

Ping external address from vShield Edge console (Note*** must use IP that’s assigned to edge)

ping interface addr  8.8.8.8
ping interface addr 11.22.33.44 8.8.8.8

Scroll within a vShield Edge console session

SHIFT + [PgUp / PgDn]
Filed Under: Networking, VMware Tagged With: , ,

Commands to troubleshoot connectivity through a Cisco ASA

2 February 2017 by

Packet Tracer

packet-tracer input      
packet-tracer input external tcp 11.22.33.44 1010 55.66.77.88 80

VPN Example

packet-tracer input internal udp 10.10.10.10 500 10.20.20.20 500
packet-tracer input internal udp 10.20.20.20 500 10.10.10.10 500

Packet Capture

capture *NAME_OF_CAPTURE* interface *INTERFACE_NAME* match *TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL (TCP / UDP / IP)* host X.X.X.X (This is the source IP address) host Y.Y.Y.Y (This is the destination IP address) eq *PORT_NUMBER*
capture cap1 interface external match tcp host 11.22.33.44 host 55.66.77.88 eq 80

Capture all syslog traffic to 10.10.10.10

capture cap2 interface internal real-time match udp any host 10.10.10.10 eq 514

View capture

show capture cap1

Show access-list

show access-list acl_external

Find access-list entries including port 514

show access-list | inc 514

Find log entries including port 514

show logging | inc 514

Show arp for specific interface

show arp | inc internal
Filed Under: Cisco, Networking Tagged With: , ,

Virtualisation Podcasts – Keeping your finger on the Pulse

16 July 2016 by

For many years I’ve found listening to Podcasts a great way to keep up-to-date with Virtualisation and Technology.

It all started with the VMware Communities Roundtable podcast, where I quickly realised the commute to work didn’t have to be “dead time”.

Here’s my current list of Virtualisation and Tech podcasts:

  1. Packet Pushers Datanauts
  2. Speaking in Tech
  3. In Tech We Trust Podcast
  4. The Cloudcast (.net) – Weekly Cloud Computing Podcast
  5. The Full Stack Journey
  6. Virtually Speaking Podcast
  7. The Geek Whisperers
  8. VMware Communities Roundtable
  9. Cloud Insiders
  10. vChat (MP3 VERSION) – The Latest in Virtualization and Cloud Computing
  11. The Data Center Insiders Podcast: Virtualization | Cloud Computing | Enterprise IT | VMware | EMC

The best Podcast app I’ve found to date is Overcast, as it has very useful features including Voice Boost and Smart Speed, Playlists, and a great UI.
Oh yeah, and it’s free!

I’ve you want to quickly import the above podcasts, download and import my OPML file here: overcast-adam-rush

Filed Under: Misc, Mobile, VMware Tagged With:

Find Upgradeable vShield Edges

11 June 2016 by

I was recently asked if there was a quick way to find out how many vShield Edges were out-of-date and could be upgraded in a vCloud Director environment. I didn’t know of any, so I turned to my good friend PowerCLI and came up with this:

This script does assume that at least one of the vShield Edges in your environment is up-to-date, as it looks for the highest available version deployed and not the known latest version.

Filed Under: VMware Tagged With: , ,

VMware Training Resources

11 June 2016 by

I regularly get asked where good VMware training resources are found for various VMware products, so I thought I’d better create a page I can add links to as find them.

vCloud Director

Since I’ve had a focus on vCloud Director for the past few years, these links are fresh in my mind:

  1. VMware has recently updated their Fundamentals course, so this is probably the best place to start: VMware vCloud Director Fundamentals 2016

vCloud Networking

  1. Networking is often a tricky area for new users of vCloud Director, so here is a the best presentation I’ve found so far that explains how the different networking components fit together: https://youtu.be/EZw1UemLBoE
  2. http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2010/09/07/vcd-networking-part-1-intro/
  3. http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2010/09/09/vcd-networking-part-2-network-pools/
  4. http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2010/09/15/vcd-networking-part-3-use-case/

vCloud Design

  1. vCloud Director Design and Scale: https://youtu.be/dzX6DgUL2hQ

I’ve just found this page which includes most of the above links and more: http://blogs.vmware.com/vcloud/2010/09/top-resources-to-learn-about-vcloud-director.html

I’m a big fan of Pluralsight and can highly recommend these courses:

  1. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/vmware-vcloud-director-essentials/table-of-contents
  2. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/vmware-vcloud-director-organizations/table-of-contents
  3. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/vmware-vcloud-5-1-essentials-pt1/table-of-contents
  4. https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/vmware-vcloud-5-1-essentials-pt2/table-of-contents

vSphere

vSphere 6

Check out the latest Training and Certification resources here: http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=62349&ui=www_edu&rcode=twtr

VMware Various

Here’s the Top Free course from VMware Learning: http://mylearn.vmware.com/portals/www/mL.cfm?menu=topfreecourses&p=1

Filed Under: VMware Tagged With: , ,

Install and Configure Citrix Secure Gateway

2 April 2013 by

Overview

This is the eighth post in the Installing and Configuring Citrix XenApp 6.5 Series:

  1. Install and Configure Citrix XenApp Licensing
  2. Install and Configure Citrix XenApp 6.5
  3. Configure Web Interface for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  4. Publishing Applications with Citrix XenApp 6.5
  5. Install and Configure Profile Management for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  6. Add Servers to a XenApp 6.5 Farm
  7. Configure Pass-through Authentication for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  8. Install and Configure Citrix Secure Gateway (this post)

Contents

This post contains the following sections:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Citrix Tagged With: ,

Configure Pass-through Authentication for Citrix XenApp 6.5

20 March 2013 by

Overview

This is the seventh post in the Installing and Configuring Citrix XenApp 6.5 Series:

  1. Install and Configure Citrix XenApp Licensing
  2. Install and Configure Citrix XenApp 6.5
  3. Configure Web Interface for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  4. Publishing Applications with Citrix XenApp 6.5
  5. Install and Configure Profile Management for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  6. Add Servers to a XenApp 6.5 Farm
  7. Configure Pass-through Authentication for Citrix XenApp 6.5 (this post)
  8. Install and Configure Citrix Secure Gateway

Contents

This post contains the following sections:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Citrix Tagged With: ,

Add Servers to a XenApp 6.5 Farm

17 March 2013 by

Overview

This is the sixth post in the Installing and Configuring Citrix XenApp 6.5 Series:

  1. Install and Configure Citrix XenApp Licensing
  2. Install and Configure Citrix XenApp 6.5
  3. Configure Web Interface for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  4. Publishing Applications with Citrix XenApp 6.5
  5. Install and Configure Profile Management for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  6. Add Servers to a XenApp 6.5 Farm (this post)
  7. Configure Pass-through Authentication for Citrix XenApp 6.5
  8. Install and Configure Citrix Secure Gateway

This post is almost identical to the Install and Configure Citrix XenApp 6.5 post, with only a few small differences.

Contents

This post contains the following sections:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Citrix Tagged With: ,

Create a Custom View in Event Viewer to show Reboot Events

15 March 2013 by

Scenario

A server reboot can explain related events and alarms triggered by monitoring systems, so it’s always handy to check for reboots first when troubleshooting.

With this in mind, you want a quick and easy way of finding out when the server last rebooted.

Solution

You need to create a Custom View in Event Viewer, that will only show shutdown and startup events, including reasons why the server rebooted.

Here’s the steps to create the Custom View:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: , ,
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