VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5.0b released

Gladly, VMware has fixed those pesky SSO errors that I had to creatively workaround back in September 2013, with their 5.5.0a update in October, and again with 5.5.0a on December 22, 2013. Just in time to use for your home lab projects this winter!

vCenter Server Appliance 5.5.0b | 22 DEC 2013 | Build 1476389

If you used the link above to pull down that 1.8GB OVA file, be sure to use the download manager, which gave me a nice 4x speed boost.

If you'd rather not download the whole 1.8GB OVA file and do a fresh install, you can instead consider upgrading your existing Appliance to Version 5.5.0b aka 5.5.0.5021 Build _1476389. _Just use the "Check Updates" button over on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance Web UI:
https://vcenter:5480/#update.Status (where your hostname replaces my vcenter name)

You may want to grab a snapshot of your VCSA (VMware vCenter Server Appliance) before you begin, in case you have an issue with the upgrade that requires roll-back.

Once I clied the "Check Updates" button, then the "Install Updates" button, with the entire update procedure took under 10 minutes for my lab, with 4GB allocated of RAM in the VM, thin-provisioned on a SATA3 SSD. The simple process is demonstrated in the YouTube video below. It's also just in time for my planned home lab rebuild this week, a great time of year to get things ready for the new year. Stay tuned for my newly-refined, simpler than ever step-by-step guide to exactly how to build or rebuild your home's vSphere 5.5 lab!