Chris Goettl

VMware customers using the Shavlik branded versions of Protect please note that we are announcing the end-of-life for versions 7.5, 7.6, and 7.8.  You will see the following message when contacting support.

“In November of 2012, Shavlik, a VMware Company, will End-of-Life (EOL) the following NetChk Protect versions by disabling the ability to update the XML data. As of November 1, 2012, the ability to update XML data on Protect 7.5, 7.6 and 7.8 versions of the product will be disabled. Please refer to VMware’s Life Cycle Policies page under VMware vCenter Protect Essentials/Essentials Plus for further information at https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/lifecycle/ &

I found an interesting blog post by industry veteran Don Jones for Redmond Magazine that I wanted to share.  It leads well into our recent ITScripts Catalog update.  Mr. Jones talks about a recent survey he performed on how much emphasis was placed on scripting (specifically with PowerShell) for different IT job titles.  Of the 600 respondents 80 percent require PowerShell in some, if not all, positions within IT.  None of the job titles were specific to PowerShell Scripter either, so it is an indication that this is one of many skills expected of IT Admins.

The survey also found …

Hey Everybody,

Just a quick update on the latest XML release for VMware vCenter Protect Essentials Plus as you will notice some new items have been released.  As many of you know, vCenter Protect Essentials Plus 8.0 offers a new feature called ITScripts.   This integration with Microsoft Powershell  delivers powerful scripting capabilities through vCenter Protect Essentials Plus.  In the XML release yesterday we did release three new script into the VMware Script Catalog.

A little about XML Announcements for those who may not be familiar.  vCenter Protect Essentials Plus has regular data releases to update patch data.  Typically you will …

It is patch week once again, but before the patch announcements and Patch Tuesday webinar start to fill your week I wanted to let you know what a couple hundred of our customers have already found out.  VMware vCenter Protect Essentials Plus 8.0 (formerly Shavlik NetChk Protect) is now available.  For those of you who have not seen the new features of the latest release they are focused on making day to day IT Management easier.

Check out the ITScripts feature and integration with RDP which provide some handy and quick solutions for any …

VMware vCenter Protect Essentials Plus 8.0 (formerly Shavlik NetChk Protect)  has been released to Early Access.  This means you can now download and install the production version directly from the download link (click here).  We have had a very exciting beta and the feedback at the VMworld US and Europe shows was very positive.  General Availability through our download site and additional supporting documentation and materials will be coming next week.

Feature Highlights:
Credentials Manager
ITScripts
Power Status Scan
Multi Admin support

And many more…

Also, next week we will be hosting a webinar introducing VMware vCenter Protect Essentials Plus.   This webinar covers …

Recently we held a poll regarding the use of scripting in managing your IT environment.   Nearly 90% of respondents are using scripting today and the majority are writing and maintaining their own scripts as well as downloading and reusing existing scripts.  So it comes as no surprise that the ITScripts feature in our upcoming  8.0 release is the most popular reason for users joining the beta.  Beta testers currently have access to seven scripts which include:

Scripts to disable pesky update pop-ups for vendors like Apple and Adobe.
Scripts to better support our own tech support needs like collecting console and target …

Development of Protect is winding down and QA efforts are coming along nicely. We expect to start the Beta for Protect in early October. We will be sending out invitations to the beta within the next week or so. Customers with defects resolved or feature requests being implemented will get an invitation as well as previous beta participants. Customers who have either taken surveys and requested to be on the beta list or already emailed Shavlik-beta@vmware.com will be receiving invites as well. If you are interested in participating in the beta, email Shavlik-beta@vmware.com to get …

Every company and every IT administrator has a tool kit -the things they need and rely on regularly to help get the job done.  An important piece of that tool kit often includes some scripts, including scripts for fixing a one-time issue across many machines, or for helping execute routine tasks. How comfortable are you with scripting?  Please click here to take this short survey and share your experience with scripting.

Regards,
Chris Goettl

We are excited to announce that we are currently in the process of getting the beta of NetChk Protect 8.0 set up.  The first round of the beta will be a closed beta.  We have a couple hundred customers that we will be inviting to the beta, but we will only be able to accept a limited number of customers to begin with, so if you want a guaranteed spot, contact us as soon as possible at Shavlik-beta@vmware.com.   The customers on the invite list are those with a support issue resolved by 8.0, customers who submitted a feature request …

The next release of NetChk Protect is nearly feature complete. We have some great new features coming your way in this release. In my last post I discussed a few of the new features that we will be releasing such as the credentials management, RDP integration, and scripting. This release is very much about IT Management. NetChk Protect will become less of a once a month tool and more of an every day life saver. As we lead up to Beta I will be letting out a few teasers for you to get an idea of …