vmwarez.com
           -Where Virtualization is a Reality!

Read the details here. There's about 5 main points that it addresses. One pain-in-the-neck about it is that it requires new VMware tools to be installed on all the guests. Oh well... looks like we'll have a late night one of these weekends.

I've updated the original post about the IPCop test rig. If you've downloaded it before, you'll notice that I've re-numbered the network and updated some of the add-ons. You can read about it here at the original blog entry.

The add-ons that are already installed in this IPCop VM need a little more attention than I gave them in the first post, so here's some quotes from their website:

urlfilter - The URL filter add-on for IPCop

URL filter is an add-on module for the popular Linux based firewall distributions IPCopand SmoothWall, extending their functionality with the ability to block unwanted domains, URLs and files.

Key features of URL filter:
*The URL filter module is available for both distributions, IPCop and SmoothWall
*It's ready to use. Download, install, and run
*Seamless GUI integration for configuration and log viewer
*Very flexible, block categories are not hardcoded
*Works with all squidGuard compatible blacklists
*Automatic blacklist updates on a scheduled basis
*Time, category and client based constraints (IPCop only)
*No reboot required, neither for installation or deinstallation, nor during operation
*And ... it's free, even for commercial use

advproxy - The Advanced Web Proxy add-on for IPCop

Advanced Proxy is an add-on module for the popular Linux based firewall distributions IPCop and SmoothWall, extending their web proxy functionality with a lot of versatile and useful additional features.

Key features of Advanced Proxy:
*Seamless GUI integration for advanced web proxy configuration
*Local user authentication including group based user management
*LDAP authentication including Active Directory, eDirectory and OpenLDAP
*Windows authentication including Windows NT/2003 domains and Samba
*RADIUS authentication
*Extended cache management
*Web access control by IP and MAC addresses
*Time based access restrictions
*MIME type filter
*Blocking of unauthorized browsers or client software
*Automatic client configuration support (PAC and WPAD)

cre - Classroom Extensions for the Advanced Proxy add-on

The Classroom Extensions (CRE) for the Advanced Proxy Server will give you the ability to delegate administrative tasks to non-administrative users. Therefore, the CRE will create a new logical role between the Admin and the users: The Supervisor.

The Supervisor may now turn on and off web access for predefined groups (e.g. specific computers in a classroom) without the need of having administrative access rights to the IPCop GUI.

Key features of the Classroom Extensions:
*Group definitions by single IP addresses, IP ranges and/or subnets
*Supervisor access protected by password and/or network address
*No administrative IPCop privileges required for the Supervisor

All administrative CRE settings will accessible within the Advanced Proxy GUI.

calamaris - Calamaris Proxy Report Generator add-on

Calamaris v2 is a logfile parser and report generator, originally written by Cord
Beermann and distributed under the GNU Public License. This add-on
integrates Calamaris into the IPCop or SmoothWall GUI and gives you the ability
to create customized, detailed, menu driven Proxy reports.

Report features of the Calamaris add-on:
*Summary
*Request method (GET, HEAD, ...)
*Incoming requests (TCP and UDP)
*Outgoing requests
*Requested first- and second-level domains
*Protocol report (http, gopher, ftp, ...)
*Requested content-types and
file extensions
*Size based distribution of objects
*Performance in
defined timeranges

All reports can be exported or viewed within the
integrated log viewer.

Click here for more vmwarez.com pre-built VMs.

As much as I hate having to log on to read articles, this one looks like it may be worth it. They give you a teaser few paragraphs before requireing a logon to read the rest.

From my family to yours... Merry Christmas!

This is mostly bug fixes... Read all the details here.

Here's a list of books on the topic of virtualization / server consolidation and anything else that is helpful for an IT guy that works with this stuff:

• The Book of VMware: The Complete Guide to VMware Workstation
• Virtualization: From the Desktop to the Enterprise
• The VMWare Workstation 5 Handbook (Networking & Security)
• Rob's Guide To Using Vmware
• Virtualization with VMware ESX Server
• VMware ESX Server : Advanced Technical Design Guide

Amazon.com
There's only so much you can do by multitasking applications. Frequently, you just need another computer for testing software, trying out network configurations, or doing any of a dozen things that engineers and administrators need to do. VMware allows you to run several virtual machines on one physical computer, each completely independent of the others at all levels and each potentially running a different operating system. The Book of VMware provides full documentation on running both versions of this tremendously useful utility--Windows and Linux--and goes into great detail on how it goes about dividing the resources of a single physical box. If you want to know how the Linux version of VMware manages the file systems of a Windows guest operating system, or how USB devices are shared across multiple virtual machines, this book is the single best resource for you.

Brian Ward's prose style is pretty dry; you won't read this one from front to back, and it's unlikely you'll even read a chapter straight through unless you're encountering a problem and want to know everything potentially related to it. More likely, you'll use the index to locate Ward's coverage of FreeBSD disk-lettering schemes (or whatever) and read the several pages of text and illustrations he devotes to the matter. This is a specialized reference book, and a very good one. --David Wall

Topics covered:
All aspects of VMware 3.0 Workstation (from VMware Corporation) for both the Windows and Linux versions of the software. Coverage of the two variants is approximately equal. In addition to explaining how to install both kinds of VMware, the author shows how guest systems behave--in terms of disk usage, driver compatibility, device sharing, networking, and all other major systems--in both environments. There's great coverage of FreeBSD as a guest system.

Edouard Bugnion, Co-founder and Chief architect at VMware, Inc. "A great introduction to VMware Workstation. . . ."

Book Description
Creating a virtual network gives network administrators a way to maximize the usage of their servers. This will be the only book on the market that outlines how to manage all aspects of virtualization across an enterprise. Other books focus on single aspects of virtualization, without delving into the interrelationships of the technologies. Coverage of all aspects of virtualization, including virtual machines, virtual file systems, clustering, and virtualized storage solutions, will enable readers to understand which virtualization technologies may be right for their environment.

About the Author
Erick M. Halter was an educator for 3 years, winning multiple student retention and professional development awards. He currently works as a network engineer for a technology-based law firm where he is virtualizing the current network and optimizing system processes for the Web. Halter also configures and maintains infrastructure equipment for heightened security and performance. Halter has several industry certifications, a degree in English, and 10 years of network experience. He resides in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife and three dogs. Chris Wolf is an instructor at ECPI Technical College, as well as a leading industry consultant in enterprise storage, virtualization solutions, and network infrastructure management. He has a master's degree in information technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, and his IT certification list includes MCSE, MCT, and CCNA.

Book Description
VMware is the leading virtual machine software available today and it is the foundation for next generation computing as it allows users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on the same PC. The VMware Workstation 5.0 Handbook teaches users the nuts and bolts of this powerful program, including how to install and upgrade VMware and use its guest operating systems. It gives administrators and developers everything they need to know in order to use VMware Workstation effectively, including how to configure, run, and troubleshoot virtual machines. Step-by-step tutorials allow users to work with the software as they read, and real-world examples and software screenshots reinforce the tutorials and make understanding this powerful new technology easy. With this book, users will learn all the skills necessary to use VMware effectively in corporate IT infrastructures.

About the Author
Steven S. Warren (Winter Haven, FL) is a Senior Technical Consultant for The Ultimate Software Group. He has written columns for well-known IT Web sites including Techrepublic.com, CNET, and ZDNET, and has published numerous articles. He holds MCDBA, MCSE, MCSA, CCA, CIW-SA, CIW-MA, Network+, and I-Net+ certifications, and was named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP).

Book Description
The second edition of Rob's Guide to Using VMWare continues where the author stopped with the first edition. New topics covered in the book are VMWare ACE and VMWare GSX Server. The book now also contains information on VMWare and Linux. This new edition features an overview of the new version 5 of VMWare Workstation. Many topics which were included in the first edition have been updated and new topics have been added.

Book Description
A virtual evolution in IT organizations throughout the world has begun. It is estimated that currently 3% of all servers run virtually and that number is expected to grow rapidly over the next 5 years. VMware's ESX server is the enterprise tool that provides the platform on which a complete virtual infrastructure can be designed, implemented, and managed. ESX is the most powerful, resilient and customizable of VMware's three virtual platforms and this book explores many of the possibilities that a virtual infrastructure running on ESX Server provides.

Server Sprawl and escalating IT costs have managers and system administrators scrambling to find ways to cut costs and reduce Total Cost of Ownership of their physical infrastructure. Combining software applications onto a single server, even if those applications are from the same software vendor, can be dangerous and problems hard to troubleshoot. VMware ESX Server allows you to consolidate 15 to 20 or even more servers onto a single physical server reducing hardware, electrical, cooling, and administrative costs. These virtual servers run completely independent of each other so if one crashes the other are not affected. Planning and implementing a server consolidation is a complex process.

This book details the requirements for such a project, includes sample forms and templates, and delivers several physical to virtual migration strategies which will save both time and costs. You will easily be able to plan and deploy VMware's ESX Server and begin down the path of an evolved, virtual infrastructure in which costs, administration overhead, and complexity are reduced. VMware has provided the technology for a virtual infrastructure and this book shows you how to build it.

Book Description
Detailing the design and deployment of a VMware ESX Server environment, and written from the practical experience of proven VMware engineers, this book provides IT architects with the insight needed to tackle tough design issues such as ESX Server security, network and SAN design, host hardware selection, guest selection and configuration, management tool selection, ESX performance optimizations, and automated installs and provisioning. A linear progression is provided, starting at the basic architecture of ESX server and then moving on to server configurations, design alternatives for hardware, SAN configuration and management tools, the creation of guest operating systems, and strategy development for implementing this technology into a specific environment. Advanced topics such as unattended installs, integration with network management software, configuration options for high availability, and disaster recovery scenarios are also addressed.

About the Author
Ron Oglesby is the director of architecture for RapidApp. He is a VMware Certified Professional and a VMware Authorized Consultant. He is the coauthor of Terminal Services for Windows Server 2003. He lives in Chicago. Scott Herold is a senior network engineer for RapidApp. He lives in Chicago.

I just got this email from them announcing prices that are good untill December 31, 2005

1-9 $41.99 ea
10-24 $37.99 ea
25+ $35.99 ea

Click here to buy

Click here for more info

VMware has announced that they have chosen WebEx Support Center as their official remote support tool. This may not seem very exciting, but if you every NEED their help, this is one of the best ways to get it. Their remote support is bundled with their Gold and Platinum services.

I'm going to start maintaining a list of virtualization sites here... I started to do this in my favorites, but figured that they might-as-well be posted. If you'd like to see your site on here, drop me an email.

http://www.virtualization.info/
The blog about virtualization technologies, products and market trends

http://sanbarrow.com/
VMware hacks, custom apps/utilities

http://www.vmts.net/
Info on virtual machines and terminal services

http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/
VMware's back - many utils including the Virtual Floppy Drive

http://citynav.com/vsplus/index.htm
VSPlus for MS Virtual Server 2005

http://vpc.visualwin.com/
The unofficial list of what OSs work w/ MS Virtual Server

http://www.run-virtual.com/
Another virtualization blog...

http://www.alt64.se/forum/
VMware scripting board

http://www.virtualserver.tv/
Your resource portal for Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and Virtual PC

http://petruska.stardock.net/software/VMware/
Tools for creating virtual machines that work with VM Player

http://atucker.typepad.com/
Andy Tucker's Blog - On virtualization, operating systems, software development, and communities.

http://www.vmguru.com/
Home of the Virtual Machine Gurus

http://www.vmwareprofessional.com/
A source of valuable info if you are taking the VCP test.

http://x86vmm.blogspot.com/
Keith Adams' Blog - an engineer at VMware

http://trivore.com/vmware/
Trivore VMware ESX Server hits 'n' tips

Looks like they're somewhat on the same track as many of us in terms of re-centralizing our desktops. Remember the dumb terminal days? that was before desktops... which was before terminal services, which was before desktops, which was before hosted desktops... seems we keep going back to our roots. Maybe now we've perfected it.

Link to article

UPDATED: 9/14/2006:
IPCop is now version 1.4.11 (details), URLFilter 1.7.1, ADVProxy 2.0Beta 4, Calamaris 2.1.0 and BlockOutTraffic 2.3.1 Build 2.

UPDATED: 5/25/2006:
New versions of URLFilter & ADVProxy are now included in the VM.

UPDATED: 3/3/2006:
Now includes BlockOutTraffic. Click here for details.

UPDATED: 12/29/05:
Upgraded Calamaris Proxy Report Generator to v2.0
Added Classroom Extensions for the Advanced Proxy add-on v1.0
Changed IP Addressing scheme... see readme in zip or download PDF
-------------------
I use IPCopfor testing all sorts of stuff. I used it when I was demo'ing the 2x thin client solution... it made a great virtual router for running another segment with dhcp that specified different PXE info than i wanted running on my production network... I've used it as a "more advanced NAT" than the basic vmware nat for when testing stuff. It will also do some level of bandwidth shaping and QoS. As a virtualized "DSL router" it does way more than any linksys out there... it passes GRE... lets you define source IP lists for your inbound NAT so that you're not leaving your network open to the whole world.

You can find all the official info about IPCop at http://www.ipcop.org/

This little gem can be used for all kinds of things. I've included a network diagram of how it will look on your PC: Click on it for a full sized PDF.



The IP addresses, may need to be changed to fit your network. You can do that by logging on as root and running "setup" from the prompt.

The root and admin passwords are both "vmwarez" and the url to the web interface is http://ipaddress:81 .

You can download this vm here. (about 65mb)

There's also a readme file that will give a little more info... along with the full size PDF of the network diagram and the VM --- all in the zip file.

Click here for more vmwarez.com pre-built VMs.

At long last, VMware has released its Player product. Like Microsoft lets people download their free viewers for Word or Excel, VMware Player is sort of a "viewer" for virtual machines.

You can download it here:

http://www.vmware.com/download/player/

It comes as a windows .exe or a linux rpm or tarball.

The windows installer is about 28mb.

Features:

• Runs any VMware virtual machine (ESX, GSX, Workstation), any MS virtual machines and also Symantec's LiveState Recovery disks
• Accesses the Host's hardware - USB devices, NICs, CD/DVD drives
• Copy & Paste between host and guest
• Drag and drop between host and guest
• Flexible networking - can use a virtual NAT'd network, complete isolation or bridge w/ the host's NIC.
• run 32 & 64bit OSs at the same time on the same host. 64bit OSs that work include certain MS Windows, Red Hat, SuSE & FreeBSD.
• Adjustable memory configuration...
• Shutdown options include automatic suspend or power off.
• and get this... integrated google search! that one came out of no-where.

This is a great way to get into the vm world... Many prebuilt OSs are going to be made available at http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/vm/ Besides commercial ones, there's a new "Community Virtual Machines" section where users can submit their own VMs for download. I'll have one up there soon, I hope.

You can also create your own VM for use with player by going to any of the following websites:
http://www.consolevision.com/members/dcgrendel/vmxform.html
http://petruska.stardock.net/software/vmware/
http://sanbarrow.com/vmxbuilder.html

More on those later...

Take care if you're interested in this... it seems that someone doesn't know what they have - or it is fake. One of the two.

Here's the text of the auction:

VMWare - ESX Server 2 (v2.5) - ESX2-CP DataCenter Class - NIB
- New, NEVER OPENED!
- Create virtual servers to reduce costs in your datacenter
- CD included along with manual
- Part number: ESX2-CP

Click here to view it