New Books on my Bookshelf ! Learn PowerShell ToolMaking and PowerShell in Depth!

My bookshelf just got a big bigger. I received yesterday those two items :

• Learn PowerShell Toolmaking in a Month of Lunches from +Don Jones  and +Jeffery Hicks.
• PowerShell in Depth from +Don Jones +Richard Siddaway and +Jeffery Hicks 

I'm looking forward to get those signed at the PowerShell Summit next month!! ;-)

How to Deploy an OVF Template from a Remote Web Server

In the following post I am going to explain how to deploy an OVF Template from an URL.


The VMware vSphere Client allows you to deploy and export virtual machines, virtual appliances, and vApps stored in Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF).

An appliance is a pre-configured virtual machine that typically includes a preinstalled guest operating system and other software.

Methods to deploy an OVF Template

Using vSphere Client you have a couple of methods available to you :

• Remote web server (URL)
• Local Disk, USB keychain drives or CD/DVD drives
• Shared network drives
• OVFTool (Command-line utility from VMware that allows you to import and export OVF packages to and from a wide variety of VMware platform products.)

In most cases, Administrators would probably browse their Local Disks or Network Shares.
However, In my case I want to deploy a template using the local datastore of my ESXi host, using an URL.

The Simplest Way to Create a Bootable Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 USB Key

After I passed my VCP510-DV last week, I wanted to rebuild my Home Lab using Windows Server 2012 for the Storage part, instead of FreeNas.

Part of the rebuild, I needed to install Windows Server 2012 on top of the old FreeNas box. Hard task since I don't have a DVD player in the case... :-/

Hence, USB Boot it is...

I was surprise to see how easy it is to create a Bootable Windows Server 2012 (R1 or R2)/Windows 8/8.1 USB Key.

What do you need:

• Windows 7 USB/Download Tool (2MB)
• ISO of Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 (Mine is from TechNet)

Once Installed, Launch Windows 7 USB/Download Tool

The first step is to select your ISO