Is Exchange 2010 Supported on VMware?

KB ID 0000333 

Problem

At time of writing (30/09/10) it seems I cant get a definitive answer! My colleague tried to log a third line support call with Microsoft this week, as soon as they found out that Exchange 2010 was running in a VMware environment, they (literally) hung up on him.

Solution

Well Microsoft’s own documentation says it IS

Reference:

Fair enough Exchange 2010 is supported on a “Third party Hypervisor ONLY if its been validated in the “Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program“”.

Lets check that then,

Reference:

Quote ” Products that have passed the SVVP requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2 are considered supported on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 and later Service Packs, both x86 (32-bit), and x64 (64-bit).”

And The platform it was running on IS listed (ESXi 4.0 U1).

When presented with this evidence the response was “We will try and fix it on a “Best Endeavour” basis” and the problem (which had nothing to do with VMware, it was actually Microsoft Threat Management Gateway that caused the problem!) was resolved.

Sorry Microsoft that is just not good enough! My company pay handsomely for their gold partnership status, and we expect to get third line support on the products we sell. The product is either supported or it is NOT, don’t publish that it is, then use the fact that is running on third party virtualisation to get the problem off your support call queue. Because somewhere there is an Engineer/Consultant who has persuaded THEIR client to part with money to buy YOUR product.

I openly invite Microsoft – Third Line Exchange Support, The Exchange Development team and anyone else to respond to me. I will publish any pertinent response.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Technet Exchange 2010 Requirements Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program VMware Platforms Supported and passed SVVP

Chrome (Linux) Installing x64 bit Flash Plugin

KB ID 0000385 

Problem

Did you know you can install Java and Flash with the Ubuntu Restricted extras pack? click here

At the time of writing, Adobe have pulled the previous beta of x64 bit flash for Chrome, which is annoying because I am running it on my x64 Ubuntu 10.10 box.

 

Solution

To be honest more of a workaround than a solution, but you can get chrome to install the x32 bit version and it will run it as a separate process.

1. Launch a terminal Session (Applications > Accessories > Terminal), issue the following command followed by your password.

[box]sudo apt-get install chromium-browser flashplugin-installer[/box]

2. When prompted enter “Y” for yes.

3. Time to put the kettle on.

4. When its finished, open up Chrome and go here to test it.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Also see Ubuntu – Installing Java