VMware CodeConnect 2020 Recap
Introduction
I recently published this post about VMware CodeConnect 2020. This event passed a week ago so I thought I would share some of the content I saw and my opinions of the event.
The sessions
There was two days of the CodeConnect event. The first day was dedicated to a single track of sessions and keynotes. The second day was a keynote from Pat Gelsinger, a multiple track of sessions and then the Hackathon.
To get an idea of the event this is the agenda at a glance (click image to view original):
Due to work commitments I could not make day one, but participated in quite a few of the sessions on the second day. Unlike VMworld these were proper live sessions hosted on Zoom. I managed to catch these sessions:
- CODE4213 - Skills modernization for the Virtual Infrastructure Admin with Patrick Kremer. I thought this was a great talk on Patricks recent journey. Like me a ‘traditional’ System Admin and then through the use of VEBA to learn new skills such as containers, Git, etc.
- PowerCLI and the Art of the API with Luc Dekens. PowerCLI legend Luc dove into using the API’s built into vSphere to access functionality not available via a cmdlet
- PowerCLI Code on the Fly with Kyle Ruddy. Another PowerCLI guru Kyle went through some code in a free flowing session. Kudos for impressive the beard too
- CODE4234 - Building VM Templates Programmatically with Packer with Troy Lindsay. I think this was my most useful sessions for me personally. Troy covered HCL2 with Packer and showed code that helped me with a project
- CODE4220 - Testing VMware ESXi Infrastructure With PowerShell/PowerCLI & Pester with Bill Kindle. Pester is one of those things I keep wanting to learn but never thought of applying it against vSphere infrastructure. Food for thought from this session
- CODE4227 - The Infrastructure Automation Landscape with Jake Robinson. Jake gives a great overview of the automation landscape and the various tooling available
A selection of the sessions are now available on the VMware {code} YouTube channel. As of this blog post there are 22 sessions available but they seem to be coming in over the last few days. There are a few I didn’t get to catch during the event so will be binging on YouTube.
What I thought of CodeConnect
In one word - excellent. I actually enjoyed it more than VMworld! VMworld for me was just a bit too much pre-recorded content. I really appreciated that the sessions were live and you could easily interact with the presenters. It just felt more ‘personal’ and like an in person event. Maybe I’m just starved of VMUG events.
The sessions I attended were of great value. It was quite inspiring to see what people that seem to have been like me, a traditional vSphere Administrator, are moving on from this and developing skills that we all need to learn to survive in the industry.
I thought there was a great range of sessions including Packer, PowerCLI, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, APIs, etc. There was something for all levels and interests. Developing skills such as these are critical for all Infrastructure/vSphere Admins otherwise you may find you are left behind in the industry. The sessions from CodeConnect certainly helped me learn some new things and gave me practical ideas I can use at work.
Kudos for giving us importable calendar entries for the sessions. So much easier for remembering when one was scheduled.
One ‘criticism’ for me. This was really for late for us outside of the US time zones. I know the majority of attendees were probably from the US, but after a full week of work and attending sessions at midnight it was a struggle. No easy solution I know, but sessions could maybe have started a bit earlier in the day.
Wrap Up
As you can probably guess I was a big fan of how this event went. Well done to Kripa and the team on producing such a fantastic event right after VMworld. I certainly hope there will be a CodeConnect 2021.