You aren’t a moron at all. If you haven’t been exposed to it I wouldn’t expect you to know what it is.

So virtualization is kind of like taking multiple computer operating systems and running them on one physical server. So instead of needing a physical server for each system, you can run dozens. Then you can have clusters of physical machines that are running hundreds of virtual machines (computers) per cluster.

As a virtualization engineer, I work with VMware products (Now owned by Broadcom) to design and implement virtual infrastructure. This allows organizations to run multiple virtual machines on fewer physical servers, which enhances scalability and simplifies backup and recovery processes. Think of it as creating a digital version of a computer that can be easily adjusted and moved around.

Virtualization Engineer. Finally doing what I am passionate about. I was a stock broker 10 years ago. It was a crazy ride.

So I’m not sure if this is the problem affecting your friend, however, RCS messaging uses additional ports rather than just the standard tcp/443 port to send traffic. This port is specifically tcp/5223. If your friend connects to a wireless network that has a firewall that doesn’t have the port open, then the RCS messages will fail to send/receive until they are either connected to their cellular network or a wireless network that doesn’t have that port blocked.

The catch is, if you try to send a message while you are on a network where the traffic isn’t allowed, the RCS message doesn’t attempt to resend right away after changing to a network where the traffic is allowed.

I have a firewall in my house that has very strict rules and I had to enable a firewall policy to allow this traffic to be able to send / receive RCS messages when I was connected to my home’s WiFi. My wife’s company WIFi network has that port blocked so she doesn’t connect to it anymore and RCS works just fine.

If you want to see if this is the case for your friend’s phone, have them use their mobile network while sending / receiving RCS messages to test.

So I’m a VMware Horizon Customer / Engineer - I have a specific set of VMware Instant Clone VDIs that I created for a bunch of sales managers for the company I work for. They all use the iPad Pro 12.9s and they love them. They still need access to their green screen and spread sheets from a Windows VDI, so that’s what they have.

From what they report the experience is great. Make sure to use a keyboard with it and a Bluetooth mouse with it. Trust me, it’s worth it.

We do: Firefox, Chrome, or Edge. That’s not the problem.

The problem is with Microsofts new driver we can’t allow users to set the default browser in their VMware Instant Clone using SetUserFTA via Dynamic Environment Manager.

We have 80,000 people that work for my company. That’s not going to happen. Now we have 10,000 VMs running a combination of Ubuntu, Red Hat, Debian, and Centos. But our employees choose the OS they want to run on their own work devices whether it be Linux, MacOS, or Windows and no way is everyone is going to Linux, even if that is my own OS of choice. Especially the C-Level and board member types.

We are using Instant Clones. It’s a non-persistent Virtual Desktop.

We want to give our users the choice and then be able to persist those choices. Not force them to use just one option with a GPO that defines what they have to use.

SetUserFTA and Dynamic Environment Manager allowed it until the last Windows CU came along…

This is horrible. I run several different environments of VMware Instant Clone VDIs and use the SetUserFTA to help a users default browser and other file extension defaults to persist for a user from session to session on a non-persistent VDI. Now it’s broken.

Thanks a lot Microsoft. 😤

Ok, I grabbed a few screen shots for you as well. Here is a site that will link you to MEBx setup that enables AMT: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03883429

When power on your ProDesk G3, you can access the MEBx setup by pressing Ctrl+P or they also say F6 or Escape will get you there. Intel AMT runs on a different IP address than what your OS gets. You can assign DHCP or a static IP address and setup your admin password. You can then access the portal from http://ipaddress:16992 There should be a method of access what would show on the screen through a KVM like access but I use MeshCentral for that so I couldn’t tell you how to do it without.

Hopefully, that gives you a start. Feel free to reach back out if you have any questions. Thank you!

2024 - Mexicans at the border (you know it’s already happening)

3-Node ESXi cluster with 10 Debian VMs, 3 Windows VMs, and one FreeBSD VM

Examples: ServiceNow, Connectwise, Jira Service Desk

Look into getting a CMDB and keep track of all of your hardware. That can store the hostname / IPs of your KVM / OS or virtualization layer, vkernels, storage adapter IPs, your vCenters and so on and so forth. If your data is getting so big that spreadsheets are getting tough to manage, then you probable need a more enterprise method of storing it.