vEMan v1.0 preview edition released

[secure diversITy]

hi folks

yeah you see right: only 1,5 years later after the last release a new version is coming ;)

I mark it as a "preview" edition cause not everything is fully tested regarding the VM editor so do not expect that everything is working there. The new ESX host operation mode is working well btw.

here the download link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/veman/files/v1.0_preview/

here are all the changes:

new(!): introduced several ESX operation actions!
       now you can do the following operations on your ESX:
       - enter maintenance mode
       - exit maintenance mode
       - reboot (requires maintenance mode on)
       -shutdown (requires maintenance mode on)
new: some preparations for new deploy mode
new: hint for v6.0 perl SDK in README
new: added a skip-button for creating vEMan desktop icon when installing
new(!): introducing the first official vEMan Compendium!!!! Check it out on the project page.
fix: license was not displayed correctly on smaller screens..
new: changed development CVS tool to GIT instead of SVN. GIT is so damn great..
new: identical info header in all important documents
new(!): added a TROUBLEshooting file with important hints if you run into problems
                AND: cleaned up README, UPGRADE, INSTALL accordingly
fix: Download-links for OVFtool
new: easy howto for Ubuntu added to INSTALL documentation
fix(!): re-coded ovftool handling because v2.0.1 was removed by VMware
new(!): added a brain for target servers you already contacted. it will
        also show the last used server preselected for your convenience.
        I like it so much ;o)
new(!): introduced an XML parser we need for the VM Editor - because of this and because
         vEMan will base on python in the future I change the requirements.
         from now on python at least v2.5 is a requirement for running all functions of vEMan
         This XML parser gives a little speed improvement when displaying the VMs information.
fix: some vars cleaning in sysvars_vEMan.cfgs
new(!): WHEN UPGRADING - READ THE UPGRADE GUIDE! The uservars_vEMan.cfg have changed!!!!!
new: fixed fileaccess.pl because it returns absolutely no errorcode as return value. "Great" work VMware..
fix: be more tolerant when deploying OVF/OVA
new: added cpu core detection of ESX in hostinfo.pl
new: added a generic check for the power state as a new module
new(!): well long long LONG time it took and tried about 4 completely different concepts but now the
                VM editor is near of ready to use and provides the following features:
                - FUNCTIONAL but need some more validations (not bullet-proof):
                        - Detect & change RAM (will validate the max available RAM!)
                        - Detect & change Display Name
                        - Detect & change VM network (only first NIC supported atm)
                        - Detect & change number of CPUs (will validate the max available CPU cores!)
                - PARTLY FUNCTIONAL / WORK-IN-PROGRESS:
                        - Detect & change VNC console port and state
                - KNOWN-ISSUES:
                        It needs some more work on flushing the caches but in the meantime use the refresh button
                        (several times) if the VM is still not in on/offline state e.g. That is not a specific
                        problem within the VM editor module but a generic one..
new: added some more hints to the installation process of the VMware SDK
new: updated installation info for fedora in INSTALL

.
.
.
Have fun! (... and let me know if it works for you)

Greetings

[DovendyrE]

Hi! It works great as far as I know. But your installer was a bit tricky. I cant find ovftool 2.0.1 anywhere online. So if someone got it, I would appreciate a copy. Never the less I installed 3.5.2 version from vmware. The installer complained that I did not have a supported version. So I edited the installer and replaced 3.0.1 with 3.5.2 in the ovftool check, it worked. Have not tested the ovf deploy, but all else seem to run fine.

[secure diversITy]

thx for your report!

Because of your report I changed behaviour of ovftool detection in preview v1.0.3 ;)
It will still give a warning hint but you can continue regardless now.

Regardint ovftool v2.0.1: you have mail ;)

[DovendyrE]

Thanks! Your work is mutch much appreciated :)

[secure diversITy]

Hi folks,

preview v1.0.3 has been released with many fixes and changes regarding the VM editor and more:

    new: when an unsupported ovftool version was detected we now continue
         instead of aborting (giving a hint of course)
    new/fix: complete rewrite of the ESX firewall readme
            - using copy and paste is a mess in esx ssh so added a here doc to
              add all the relevant code in a readable manner
            - changes regarding the esxcli commands to be better prepared and setup
    fix: VM info refresh sometimes opening main screen instead of refreshing
    new: (internal) infobox window now supports error messages without exiting
    new(!): (VM editor) added coresPerSocket support!
    fix(!): (VM editor) problems when total cpu count is 1 which means unset by esx
    fix: (VM editor) wrong console detection
    fix: (VM editor) wording to "validate" instead "activate" changes
    fix(!): (VM editor) comparison of change detection was not working
    fix(!): (VM editor) upload window was shown even when there were no changes
    new(!): (VM editor) added calculation for cores per socket and total cpu count
    new: (VM editor) added a little bit more debug output to console action
    fix(!): (VM editor) removed debug code so the editor works again
    fix: (VM editor) added a check if console setting has changed by user and
         do the change if needed (only)
    fix(!): (VM editor) a problem with RAM detection
    fix(!): (VM editor) a problem with CPU count detection

[Juan]

I had the same issue described in
https://sourceforge.net/p/veman/discussion/support/thread/69ce46c0/#6414

Server version unavailable at 'https://x.x.x.x:443/sdk/vimService.wsdl' at /usr/share/perl/5.14/VMware/VICommon.pm line 545.

with vEM preview v1.0.3 and using tools as you described in README.md

None of those solutions worked for me.
Solved using:
https://communities.vmware.com/message/2169320#2169320

Hope this is useful for some one else.

By the way, THANKS for your work.

[secure diversITy]

Great thx for your feedback!

so to be sure you solved that problem by:

remove ~/.cpan files and reinstall libwww-perl for my env.

correct?

[secure diversITy]

Its me again..

preview v1.0.4 has been released with tons of changes. Check it out!

VM Editor works
Deploy OVA possible
Many Enhancements around the console like password protection etc
... many more!

One important hint:
Create a VM still in progress

Full changelog:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/veman/files/v1.0_preview/CHANGES_vEMan_v1.0.4_PREVIEW/download

Download:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/veman/files/v1.0_preview/

Happy for feedback ;)