Convert a system with VMware Converter

Convert a system with VMware Converter

There are a few ways to convert a system either P2V (Physical to Virtual) or V2V (Hyper V to VMware). This will show you how to convert a system using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Client.

Before you start you should check a few things to make the whole process streamlined.

  1. Check that the system is fully up to date (you might get stuck in an update trap if you don’t)
  2. Check that you have remote access to the system (so that if needed you can at least get back into the system easily)
  3. Make a note of the IP configurations (you will likely need to re add them)
  4. If the system a domain member make sure that you know the local admin username and password (this is so that if it fails to talk to the domain you at least have a way back into the system)
  • Install VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Client on the system you will be converting.
  • Run VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Client as Admin
  • Click on Convert machine
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Install VCSA Updates

Install VCSA Updates

Here is how to update VCSA (vCenter Server Appliance specifically version 7) with the web UI

  • Make sure you have a backup of your VCSA. I like to have a backup and a snapshot to be extra safe.
  • Click on you VCSA server
  • Click on the Update tab
  • In Update Planner select the update you want to install and click on Generate Report and select Interoperability. (this will check and make sure everything is compatible in your VCSA setup)
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Windows Updates PowerShell Script

Windows Updates PowerShell Script

There have been a lot of critical exploits over the last few months. Really the best way to deal with that is Windows Updates. Now I can hear you complaining that Windows Updates left untamed will just reboot your servers randomly or I don’t want to build WSUS or my RMM doesn’t patch well and it sucks and <insert your excuse here>.

Well I’ve created a PowerShell script that I called DK Win Updates that will help solve the issue. It uses the Windows Update Agent API to search for updates and guess what you can run this as .ps1 file, you could build a scheduled task to run it, you can toss it in your RMM and run it as a script. (if your RMM can’t do that, you should find a new RMM).

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Disable Auto Windows Updates

Disable Auto Windows Updates

Auto Windows updates are annoying especially when left untamed as it will automatically reboot the device be it a workstation or a server. I’ve written a script that can mass disable Windows updates across all devices even if they aren’t domain joined.

Technically you could go in and disabled the Windows Update service but that stops all Windows updates. I don’t think that’s a good idea.

Another way would be to bring up Group Policy Editor and go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Updates > Configure Automatic Updates and set that to be disabled.

However that option will work for domain joined devices but what about the non domain joined devices. It doesn’t make much sense to go to each device and manually edit the setting via the Local Group Policy Editor. To solve this issue I’ve written a script that could be ran across all devices including domain joined device and would leave other Windows updates settings in place.

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HP Audio Fix

HP Audio Fix

Recently I came across an issue were multiple HP systems that had a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro 1703 from a known working ISO and then upgraded to 1709. Once on 1709 the audio drivers wouldn’t work at all and if you tried to install the correct driver from HP it still wouldn’t fix it. Even manually specifying the correct driver wouldn’t fix it. It’s possible that this issue isn’t solely linked to HPs, however they are the only ones I’ve seen with this issue so far.

I’ve noticed this issue on the following HP systems:

  • HP EliteDesk 800 G1 SFF
  • HP ProDesk 400 G4 SFF
  • HP 280 G2 SFF

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