I totally forgot that article also included a link to do the same on ESXi the old fashioned style. The tool you needed back then (and still works) there is vmkfstools (the ESXi version, not the vCLI version), and use it like this to extend the VMDK disk to 60 gigabyte:
Disclaimer: This is not officially supported by VMware and should not be used in Production or evaluation of VSAN, especially when it comes to performance or expected behavior as this is now how the product works. Please use supported hardware found on the VMware VSAN HCL for official testing or evaluations.
For a VSAN home lab, using cheap consumer USB-based disks which you can purchase several TB’s for less than a hundred dollars or so and along with USB 3.0 connectivity is a pretty cost effective way to enhance hardware platforms like the Apple Mac Mini and Intel NUCs.
(Another one in the missed schedule list: this post was scheduled for this morning 06:00)
When you run a Windows 8.1 guest on VMware ESXi 5.1 with the VMware tools that belong to ESXi 5.1, the Minimize/Maximize/Close buttons are invisible but functional.
Through a Console Window from vSphere Client connected to the ESXi host (if that client does not run on Windows XP).
Through a Console Window from VMware Workstation connected to the ESXi host.
It is good to know that this is just a visual artefact, the Minimize/Maximixe/Close buttons still work:
I was having the same exact problem with my Windows 8.1 VM. If you click the location where the buttons should be, it still works like they are there.
But he uses a solution that is not really the kind I like:
I opened Device Manager on the VM and then uninstalled the VMware Display Adaptor, including the software for the driver. After doing that, I scanned for hardware changes and it reinstalled the display adaptor using a windows driver.
The youngest VMware Tools version it fails with on my system is this one: 9.6.1.1378637.
This is a refresh of last month’s article, Download ESXi 5.5 Update 1 and the other vSphere pieces to get your home lab started, with new download links for the Heartbleed related vCenter Update 1a release that arrived today, April 19, 2014. It is a work in progress, and will updated frequently, throughout the next few days, as I test and retest the links and procedures. The hypervisor itself (the first download) appears to be unchanged, the same 5.5 Update 1 (not 1a) released back on Mar 11 2014. It appears the only thing that has changed has been a patch to SSL certificates to address Heartbleed, as described in the release notes.
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 