How to Install VC2.5 on 64bit Operating System

1 Download and install the VMware Virtual Infrastructure 2.5 client until you are promoted with the following error. Do not click Ok yet.

2    While it is sitting in the error message about needing a 32 bit OS find and copy "VMware Infrastructure Client 2.5.msi" in a subdirectory of the system temporary directory. This was a bit tricky as I find Vista's new search to be fast but very hard to really find what I need. :) That being said, you will need to do an Advanced Search and make sure you check the Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files (might be slow) checkbox. Click Search and you should find it as I did:

3 . Make a backup of the "good" VMware Infrastructure Client.msi in case you run into problems with the next couple of steps.

4 . Now it is time to get down and dirty and "hack" the msi file itself. To do this, we need to use a MSI Table Editor. The most common and freely available is Microsoft's ORCA (which stands for "one really cool application"). If you already have ORCA installed then just proceed to the next step but for those of you who do not, you can download ORCA from http://download.microsoft.com/download/platformsdk/sdk/update/win98mexp/en-us/3790.0/msisdk-common.3.0.cab. Once downloaded open the cab file and copy "Orca_Msi.FD66E721_5AA0_41BC_AA26_1EC8F7FA1175" to your desktop and rename it "orca.msi". Then all you need to do is double-click to install.

5 . Follow the onscreen instructions. When you are finished launch ORCA from the Start > Programs Group. Once opened click the Open Folder icon to open the MSI downloaded in the step 2.

6.  Find and select the MSI from step 2 and click Open.

7.  Browse to the InstallExecuteSequence section under Tables and in the right column find and remove the LaunchConditions entry.

Close ORCA and save the newly created MSI file. We are now ready to install the VMware Infrastructure Client.

8. Double-click the newly created custom VMware Infrastructure Client MSI and accept all the defaults to install.

9.  At this point you can run the VMware Infrastructure Client but you will probably run into problems as we need tell Windows to run this application in 32-bit mode. This is done through a really cool utility called "corflags.exe" Corflags.exe is a command line utility that allows you to see if an exe or .dll is meant to run only on a specific platform or under WOW64. You can also use corflags.exe to change the platform status of an .exe or .dll. The latter is what we will be using it for.

10. For more information about corflags.exe please refer to the following two awesome resources:      CorFlags Conversion Tool (CorFlags.exe) - command-line arguments. ·         Josh Williams : Flipping bits on managed images to make them load with the right bitness - For a great explanation of the corflags.exe utility.

11  Corflags.exe is part of the .NET SDK and you can download it at: Download the NET Framework 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) (x64).

12.   Once downloaded, browse to: C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\v2.0 64bit\Bin\. In this folder you will find corflags.exe. In order to execute the next step you will need to be in either the " C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\v2.0 64bit\Bin" folder or you need to copy corflags.exe to a directory that is in the current path. I suggest you copy it to C:\Windows. You can always delete it later but it sure will make completing the next step a lot easier. ;)

13  Open to a command prompt and type the following and hit enter.

corflags "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe" /32BIT+

14 You are done. Launch the VMware Infrastructure Client 2.5 and have fun!

MCS StorageView

Alongside a few other cool tools MightyCare Solutions have released StorageView.
This handy little app will give you visibility of your Virtual Machines’ disk status in a very friendly GUI.
Read all about it here and download it here.

Here is some of the converstation which happened between me and the owner of this tool "Peter Rudolf". He was kind enough to explain me few things about this tool. For us managing a big environment is always a big challange.

VIKASH :

What does "How Many Gigabyte you can when you decrease the partition of your VMs" suppose to mean ? Are you trying to show that how much space can be saved ? If that is the case then how does you calculated?

PETER:

Please notice that the tool make a Snapshot of need Diskspace. I don´t check the needed Space of the virtual Machine periodically. This time ;-)
As the first View off the needed Space for the Virtual Machine I check how many Bytes the virtual Machine has in Use by Data and how many has it free, without data.
After that you can say, ok, my virtual Machine need overall and ever 5 Gigabytes free Diskspace to work. (maybe it is more or less (printqueue or Batchprograms that need temporary space))
If not ( and for that question we need a Scheduling to check every hour or so) you can decrease the partition of the virtual machine to save Storage of the physical LUN (because Physical Storage are expensive), You must also decrease the filesize of the VMDK File of the LUN to save spaces.
The sentence of „ How Many Gigabyte you can when you decrease the partition of your VMs” means, if you decrease the logical Partitions of the Virtualmachine AND decrease the VMDK File on the physical Storage (or the RAW-Devices) you can save Money.
It Calculate the Values per virtual Machine of all logical Partition - Freespace + needed 5 GB (as variable in the Program). In Result it calculate the Summery of all need Space + 5 GB per Log. Volume for need Space for all virtual Machine in the Datacenter.
OR and that is also a result of that, you can save the complete Storage if you using thinprovioning on the LUN.
Example: If you use NFS as a Datastore you only use the spaces on the Datastore that is really needed. Because on NFS VMware store the VMDK File in a COW-Format (copy on Write). A 10 Gigabyte logical Partition with 5 Gigabyte Data has only 5 Gigabyte on a NFS SHARE.

VI Client Plugin Document released by Andrew Kutz

I was exploring beta version of VC2.5 and then found something called “plugin manager” . I played around and found that it is amazing option which VMWare has provided. Then I found a website where you can find nice plugin as well. Thanks to Schley Andrew Kutz who also come up with VMware Infrastructure 3.5 Plugin and Extension Programming Guide - Revision 1 which gives insight to VC plugin programming. Now it seems like even VMWare is made this official
Personally I think the whole VI plugin idea is nothing short of a stroke of genius. What better way to combat the potential for the likes of Microsoft to relegate VirtualCenter to the background by building full VMware infrastructure management into SCVMM, than to open up the VI management framework in such a way. And the architecture... as much as I might accuse VMware's tools of lacking enterprise scalability from time to time, they've absolutely nailed it this time. I mean, look at this (from the document)

I can never write one :)

Trying To Be a Photographer Part6

I was trying to shoot directly into the sun with different combination and permutation but without any luck. During this trial I learned one thing, if you keep your object under exposed (With my DSLR I can go till 1/4000) you can have success. Seems like it is a difficult shot. I also learned that my DSLR has aperture of 5.4F. Not sure if this is OK. When I discussed this my college who is suppose to be a good photographer with SLR told that it is one of the difficult SHOT. He feel may be lens or photographer software can help to get me shot, not sure. I googled and seems like possible. Sounds like I got something to play with J . Let me try this. I got some example from net J

To Bihar's Credit

I myself being bihari would like to read and write about Bihar. Was going through article from BIHARtimes.com http://bihartimes.com/viewersvoice/2008/April/vv21.html and thought of putting comment but mail got bounced so thought let's put it on our own blog and comment myself


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Many a times, I get confused. What would have been the right course or the benchmarks for Bihar? What model it must follow? Should Bihar go for one followed by Naidu's Andhra Pradesh?
And then I find the highest incidence of farm indebtedness is in that Andhra Pradesh, the fifth biggest producer of food grains in the country. And I get delighted that the incidence of farm indebtedness is much less found in poverty-stricken Bihar. Bihar's farmers live and work within their means. I am sure the number of suicides and deaths due to starvation too must be least in Bihar.
And I am told of the huge number of engineering colleges that AP built. I get morose and start envying AP again but the next moment I read a report of a great beginning on education front at the grass-root levels in Bihar. I feel elated.
"In an overdrive, Bihar has recruited 2,00,000 teachers, 50 per cent of them women, and built 65,000 classrooms in less than two years. The state is also setting up more model schools to impart vocational training in the secondary schools. In fact, there are around 35 model schools/basic schools in West Champaran district alone that seek to impart skills like tailoring and computer-aided learning along with the school curriculum. What is really significant is that Bihar has taken the lead in providing vocational skills in the secondary school level. Pratham has started teaching applied arithmetic and computer application to former child labourers now going to local schools."
"From 21.5 lakh students out of school in Bihar, the number has declined to less than 9.5 lakh. One big reason for Bihar's success is the government seeking the help of organizations like the Idar-e-Shariat, Muslim Pasmanda Mahaj and Din-i-Talim to provide bridge courses to Muslim girls, who accounted for 60 per cent of the 14-16 year age group that is not in school." The state is taking all assistance from Pratham and UNICEF, and is not depending on the inspector raj of its education department.
I do also feel great when I hear about the Bihar's revolutionary step in bringing in the maximum number of women in democratic system. For record at least, India has more elected women representatives than all other countries put together and Bihar is in the forefront. According to the Ministry of Panchayati , "No less than 10 lakh women are in our panchayati raj (local self-government) institutions, comprising 37 per cent of all those elected and rising to as high as 54 per cent in Bihar, which has 50 per cent reservation for women." Women's empowerment is getting a new resonance in an underdeveloped Bihar district. Kishanganj, which didn't have a district hospital till a few years back, is witnessing a revolution with an NGO teaching reproductive and sexual healthcare to teenage girls in a madarsa.
I knew the miserable conditions of the teachers and students of the unaided schools and colleges in Bihar. How much of potential human resources were getting wasted? But then Nitish comes with some unique ideas and gives a new hope to those schools and their teachers. I wish the teachers appreciate and cooperate rather than taking political advantages.
However, no one can have any excuse about the miserable conditions of some sub-castes of deprived Dalits. According to a rough estimate, there are some 20-lakh Dalit children in Bihar who are not enrolled in schools despite the SSA scheme. I really get totally drained off. But I find again something that makes me hopeful after finding a statement right from Krishna Kumar, officer on special duty at the Raj Bhavan, Patna: "About 1,000 children in the age group of five to seven and belonging to the Musahar community will be adopted and enrolled in government schools soon."
But with all the stories of some glimpses of hope, I hardly find any big projects coming up in Bihar. All the proposals for setting up the factories and enterprises in Bihar seem to be non-starters.
Despite high hopes of an improved investment in Bihar under Nitish Kumar, the state did not see much improvement in 2007 compared to 2002. Per capita investment rose to Rs 3,145 from Rs 3,080. Surprisingly, Bihar had performed better in the previous five years. Per capita investment had risen from Rs 959 in 1997 to Rs 3,145 in 2002.
The government must have right people who can focus on the task of attracting investment in the state. Nitish Kumar must find some effective assistants or if necessary hire some from private sector, who can concentrate on the task of building Bihar's sugar industry, food and fruit processing industry, or handicrafts. He can pick up some real genius from among his bureaucrats who can take the tourism in Bihar to the level of Rajasthan.
Nitish must be a little more aggressively ambitious about the development of Bihar. Nitish can certainly create modern Nalanda and Vikramshila. As Buddha is building IT strength of Calcutta, and Naidu built Hyderabad, Nitish can also build Patna, and Gaya as IT hub. The educated young men of Bihar will expect at least this much from him. Nitish can rejuvenate the glory of ancient Bihar in metal sector. Nitish must offer to the honest investors something more than what other states are offering. No one will come unless they find the state a better destination. And Nitish must make his men realize this. I wonder if Nitish has that will or wish to become a path breaker from Bihar's political tradition of very low orders.
Unfortunately, Nitish might have established himself politically, but have not been able to bring about the changes in infrastructures and administration that can allure the investors in big way. And sometimes I wonder if he would have been satisfied himself with his achievements. For me, and may be for many, it is an opportunity lost and hopes belied.
Bihar perhaps will have to wait further for a ruthless aggressive leader who makes Bihar turnaround to get into the league of developed states.