vSphere 5.5 Question - "How can I get a VM (running Win2008 R2) to boot to Safe Mode?

vSphere 5.5 Question - "How can I get a VM (running Win2008 R2) to boot to Safe Mode?

 ** Here is a question asked over at Experts Exchange that I had answered previously.

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28474115/bring-VM-into-Safe-mode-to-replace-Rdp-client-disable-UAC.html

"servergoboom
Commented: 2014-07-11
 

It's best to adjust the Power-on Boot Delay setting first to make it easier to see the F8 Safe Mode option so you can get focus on the vSphere client VM console window in time to have your pressing of F8 acknowledged:

It is easy to do from vCenter

1. Connect to vCenter Server/VirtualCenter using the VMware Infrastructure/vSphere Client.
2. Right-click on the virtual machine you want to edit in the Inventory view.
3. Click Edit Settings > Options > Boot Options.
4. Set the Power-on Boot Delay to the number of seconds you feel will give you enough time.

Once you see POST information, make sure your mouse focus is inside the virtual machine by clicking inside the console window and press F8 once the screen goes black.

Also note that depending how your keyboard is configured, you may need to press fn+F8 rather than just F8 for Safe Mode."

A little dated but I have seen a lot of vSphere 5.5 environments still in production in the field. Hopefully you'll find this info useful.

Sonicwall SSL-VPN and Windows Remote Desktop on Chromebook (ChromeOS)

Officially there are no SSL-VPN clients for ChromeOS from Sonicwall. A little research will also reveal that Java is not available for Chrome / Chrome OS either. And ActiveX on anything other than Windows Internet Explorer is well .. right out.

So what is a poor little Chromebook to do to get SSL-VPN access to RDP on their Windows PC/RDS Server at work? 

Turn on the old L2TP VPN on their Sonicwall and then configure their Chromebook to connect using L2TP with PSK?

Possibly ... 

But why go back in time when you can go forward?

It turns out that since Sonicwall now supports HTML5 options in their SSL-VPN Bookmark services that another option presents itself:

Use the Terminal Services (RDP - HTML5) service under a SSL-VPN Bookmark 

Recently, I was able to setup and successfully test a Remote Desktop session from a Chromebook across Sonicwall SSL-VPN using the Terminal Services (RDP - HTML5) service under a SSL-VPN Bookmark -

 

You're welcome GoogleFanBoys!

... now you can continue to work on melding your minds with the AI hive master mind and get your consciousness transferred into your robot bodies... Fear the "Google" - Robot Overlord