I got asked to do this at work this week, PLEASE BE AWARE, moving users about within AD may drastically change the way your ‘User Group Policies’ are being applied. So do some Group Policy Modellingbeforehand, to avoid any problems.
Solution
In the example above, I’ve got ten users in a security group called ‘Source-Group‘. For simplicity, they are all in the same source OU as well, (but they don’t have to be). I want to move the users within the Source-Group to the OU Called Target-OU.
Open an administrative PowerShell Window.
(Note: I’m on a domain controller, you might want to load the AD module fist ‘Import-Module ActiveDirectory‘)
Here I’m upgrading from version 6.0 to 6.5, the process creates a new vCenter appliance, then migrates all your settings into it, finally it then shuts down the old appliance and brings up the new one.
Note: This procedure is ‘non-invasive’ i.e. it does not affect your production VMs, a vSphere environment can run for about 60 days without it’s vCenter, all that you would lose is the advantages of having a vSphere ‘Cluster’, primarily DRS and HA.
vCenter 6.5 Upgrade Paths
From Version
To Version 6.5
6.0.0 U2
Yes
6.0.0 U1
Yes
6.0.0
Yes
5.5 U3
Yes
5.5 U2
Yes
5.5 U1
Yes
5.5
Yes
5.1 U3
No
5.1 U2
No
5.1 U1
No
5.1
No
5.0 U3
No
5.0 U2
No
5.0 U1
No
5
No
4.1 U2
No
4.1 U1
No
4.1
No
4.0 U4
No
4.0 U3
No
4.0 U2
No
4.0 U1
No
4
No
ESX (Host) Versions Supported by vCenter 6.5
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.5.0
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.0.0 U2
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.0.0 U1
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 6.0.0
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 5.5 U3
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 5.5 U2
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 5.5 U1
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) 5.5
Note: If you are on vSphere 4 (or earlier), you need to upgrade to version 5.5 first;
Backup or snapshot your existing vCenter appliance.
Disable DRS on the cluster that is hosting the existing VCSA appliance.
MAKE SURE: the NTP settings on the existing VCSA are correct, (or change it to get its time from the host, and set the BIOS/CMOS clock correctly on the hosts).
Download the ISO file for the vCenter Appliance from VMware, and mount it on a machine that has network connectivity to the vCenter Appliance, and the ESX host that it is hosted on. Then navigate to;
Enter the details for the NEW ESX Server, this can obviously be the same as the source one, I’m just moving it to the newer of my two hosts > Next.
You may then get a certificate warning from the ESX box that vCenter is to be hosted on. (If you have installed trusted certificates, as per the following article, you wont see this message) > Yes.
Enter the VM name for the new vCenter appliance. (Note: That’s VM name NOT hostname, it will get that, (post migration), from the source vCenter appliance) > Next.
WARNING: This password has to be complex, and WONT get overwritten with the migration process. My root password was not complex enough, so post migration I had to go back into the appliance, and change the password back. So take a note of the password you use.
Select your deployment sizes, (as shown in the examples) > Next.
Select a datastore for the appliance to live on > Next.
Supply some IP details for the new appliance to use, (until the settings are migrated from your old one) > Next.
Read the summary > Finish.
The new appliance will be created and powered on, (this can take a while), when complete > Continue.
Commence stage 2, (migrate your settings into the new appliance) > Next.
The server details will be ‘Pre Populated’ from stage one > Next > You may receive a warning about DRS, either disable DRS on the cluster or (as suggested) ensure it’s NOT set to fully automated > OK > Configuration > Next.
I personally always untick the CEIP > Next.
Tick to confirm you have backed up vCenter > Finish.
OK.
Time for a coffee again, from this point forward everything is automated > when complete > Close.
The new vCenter you can now manage with the, (much improved) HTML5 management portal.
Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links
Whenever Office needs updating on my Mac I just hit OK and let it do its own thing. I did that this morning, and went and got a coffee. It was a while later that I noticed that when I needed to add an attachment to an email I got this;
Now that might look fine, but in the left hand pane ‘Favourites’ is missing, it should look like this;
If I opened launcher it was fine, it was only from Microsoft Office applications that I had a problem, e.g. If I opened Word and tried to open a document, it was also broken. For me this is a headache, to get to my ‘working’ folder I need to click down though about 10 layers of folders, which is OK once or twice, but VERY ANNOYING to do repeatedly all day!
Solution
In your Mac look in your home directory for the Library folder, (it’s hidden by default, so either enable viewing of hidden files, or press the Alt Key). Inside that folder there is another folder called preferences, and in there a file called com.apple.finder.plist take a copy of this file then delete it. At this point I restarted my Mac and everything was fixed.
Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links
