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VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 6 – Importing Recommended Firewall Rules into NSX-T via Python Script

Reading Time: 5 minutes

As the holiday season is almost upon us (just two days), why not finish with one final article in my vRNI series and an article that will likely finalise my blog posts for the year.

In my previous article (VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 5 – Data Flow Analysis & Micro-Segmentation), we analysed collected data flows in vRNI to manually micro-segment an application utilising the VMware NSX-T Distributed Firewall (DFW). However, what if we want to automate this process? After all, applications that require a small number of firewall rules (such as the application used in the previous article) are rare.

This article looks at Martijn Smit‘s great script, which imports vRNI recommended firewall rules into VMware NSX-T Data Center via a Python script.

Continue reading → VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 6 – Importing Recommended Firewall Rules into NSX-T via Python Script

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VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 5 – Data Flow Analysis & Micro-Segmentation

Reading Time: 6 minutes

In the previous articles of this series, we covered the installation (VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 1 – Installation) and configuration (VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 2 – Configuration) of vRealize Network Insight, before integrating vRNI with Microsoft Active Directory via LDAP (VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 3 – Identity & Access Management via LDAP).

In the most recent article (VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 4 – Application Discovery), we delved into application discovery. We defined four applications via several options – manual creation of an application, as well as automated discovery based on vSphere Tags/Custom Attributes and VM naming conventions.

In this final article of the series, we will explore and analyse the collected data flows of one of the previously defined applications. The goal here is to identify all valid traffic flows required to secure the application utilising the NSX-T Distributed Firewall (DFW). My friends, today we look at micro-segmentation.

Continue reading → VMware vRealize Network Insight (vRNI) – Part 5 – Data Flow Analysis & Micro-Segmentation

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VMware vRealize Log Insight: Part 2 – VMware NSX Integration via Content Packs

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In Part 1 of this series we covered the simple installation and configuration of VMware vRealize Log Insight. In Part 2 we will cover how we can further configure and customise Log Insight via Content Packs in order to leverage further logging capabilities.

As mentioned in Part 1, one of the caveats of utilising this ‘free’ version of Log Insight (or more aptly, the 25 OSI license available to all vCenter Server licensees), is the ability to use VMware-only Content Packs. This is far from a bad thing and, as a result, enables us to integrate with other VMware products including NSX, Horizon, SRM, etc. In this article we will focus on the former product.

Continue reading → VMware vRealize Log Insight: Part 2 – VMware NSX Integration via Content Packs

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VMware vRealize Log Insight: Part 1 – Install & Configuration

Reading Time: 5 minutes

If, like most of us, you forward vCenter and ESXi host Syslog data to centralised Syslog targets (and if you don’t, then I’d advise you do), then you’ll be pleased to hear that (as long as you have a valid vCenter Server license) you’ll be able to utilise the power of VMware vRealize Log Insight to interrogate this data.

This article will be the first in a two part VMware vRealize Log Insight series, the first of which will detail the simple installation and configuration process, with the second article focusing on advanced configuration and integration with VMware NSX via vRealize Log Insight Content Packs (vRealize Log Insight add-ins enabling further integration with both VMware and 3rd party products).

Continue reading → VMware vRealize Log Insight: Part 1 – Install & Configuration