Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

If you can install esxi in one evening, you're a better man than me, Gunga Din. It probably took me longer than one evening to sort out what magical combination of links they wanted me to click on just to download esxi. There are instructions on the VMWare web site for doing an unattended install. They are a bit vague but it seemed a lot like a Windows unattended install. If the installer finds a file with a particular name on a thumb drive, it does an unattended install. IIRC, the instructions say the installation iso contains a file that will do an install using all the default values. So perhaps all you have to do is copy that file to a thumb drive and boot from the installation CD. I haven't tried it because I've been afraid to wipe out my install. I really should have written a blog while I was doing all this. I have a vague memory of needing sighted assistance to start the ssh server on the esxi host. You can't ssh to the thing to start the ssh server. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 2:45 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI. I suspect they already have the stuff in place and it is just supporting it. if it uses vmx files like other virtual machines, I am am comfortable editing those by hand already. Perhaps I will try and set it up on a box tonight and see what happens. Brian. Contact me on skype: brian.moore follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bmoore123 On 09/04/2012 12:25 PM, John Heim wrote:

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hi, I think you should go for it. Prove to the company you can do the job with the experience you already have and explain that you use assistive technology to access the systewms. Let us know how you get on and good luck, Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Brian Moore Sent: 09 April 2012 20:46 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI. I suspect they already have the stuff in place and it is just supporting it. if it uses vmx files like other virtual machines, I am am comfortable editing those by hand already. Perhaps I will try and set it up on a box tonight and see what happens. Brian. Contact me on skype: brian.moore follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bmoore123 On 09/04/2012 12:25 PM, John Heim wrote:

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP, and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

I guess I kind of cheated, I know another blind VMWare admin who works at a local university, and he showed me a lot of tricks to get started with ESX. I also started in a small environment with one host and about 20 VMs, that's before the company I was working for got bought out and I moved up to this environment. Expiramentation is very important though, and that's not just because you're blind, it is for a sighted person as well. Honestly, if this is a system you're expected to support, then your boss had better give you time to learn about it, otherwise they aren't using you effectively. If your boss expects you to come in and just know everything, that's just unreasonable. Sure, expiramentation has to be mixed in with real work, but that's normal for anyone. Even when we get the accessibility issues for SCCM 2012 figured out, I'm not implementing it until I've played with it in a lab and even been to a training course if its offered. These aren't things you run into. I consider accessibility as part of the package, if I can't access it to do my job, then what good am I? That includes figuring out work arounds. As to screen readers, I'm not trying to start a flame war here, but I find Window-Eyes is better for a systems admin than JAWS simply because of the licensing. I can get one copy of Window-Eyes tied to me, and so long as I'm the primary user, that one license can run on unlimited servers, handle RDP and all the good stuff. So I can have Window-Eyes preinstalled on the servers I build, and know when they finally get deployed its ready to go licensewise and my RDP sessions just work. I wish GW-Micro had a better installer, but I'm pretty happy with how Window-Eyes performs in the IT setting, especially coming from someone who beleives in purchasing his own equipment. Ryan ________________________________________ From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim [jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 8:44 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Wow, this is fantastic info. I have got to get into this. I know next to nothing about Windows system administration and only slightly more about VMWare. How didyou find time to figure all this out though? I have what I consider a very indulgent boss but she wouldn't give me all the time it would take to figure all that out. I mean, she gives me time to experiment but there are limits and I think she'd have told me to just get sighted assistance. I'd have to do it on my own time and that doesn't seem practical either. I can't afford my own jaws license. Well, I suppose I could afford it. It would be a heck of a bite though. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:14 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Wait a minute, bosses being unreasonable? Tell me it ain't so. haha On Apr 10, 2012, at 4:36 PM, Ryan Shugart wrote:

I guess I kind of cheated, I know another blind VMWare admin who works at a local university, and he showed me a lot of tricks to get started with ESX. I also started in a small environment with one host and about 20 VMs, that's before the company I was working for got bought out and I moved up to this environment. Expiramentation is very important though, and that's not just because you're blind, it is for a sighted person as well. Honestly, if this is a system you're expected to support, then your boss had better give you time to learn about it, otherwise they aren't using you effectively. If your boss expects you to come in and just know everything, that's just unreasonable. Sure, expiramentation has to be mixed in with real work, but that's normal for anyone. Even when we get the accessibility issues for SCCM 2012 figured out, I'm not implementing it until I've played with it in a lab and even been to a training course if its offered. These aren't things you run into. I consider accessibility as part of the package, if I can't access it to do my job, then what good am I? That includes figuring out work arounds. As to screen readers, I'm not trying to start a flame war here, but I find Window-Eyes is better for a systems admin than JAWS simply because of the licensing. I can get one copy of Window-Eyes tied to me, and so long as I'm the primary user, that one license can run on unlimited servers, handle RDP and all the good stuff. So I can have Window-Eyes preinstalled on the servers I build, and know when they finally get deployed its ready to go licensewise and my RDP sessions just work. I wish GW-Micro had a better installer, but I'm pretty happy with how Window-Eyes performs in the IT setting, especially coming from someone who beleives in purchasing his own equipment. Ryan ________________________________________ From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim [jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 8:44 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Wow, this is fantastic info. I have got to get into this. I know next to nothing about Windows system administration and only slightly more about VMWare.

How didyou find time to figure all this out though? I have what I consider a very indulgent boss but she wouldn't give me all the time it would take to figure all that out. I mean, she gives me time to experiment but there are limits and I think she'd have told me to just get sighted assistance. I'd have to do it on my own time and that doesn't seem practical either. I can't afford my own jaws license. Well, I suppose I could afford it. It would be a heck of a bite though.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:14 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

...

I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hi, I use Windoweyes exclusively in an RDP environment, I don't even have JFW licensed for RDP features. One thing I should say is that I have a small amount of vision and can see to install a server OS via the console without any assistance. However, the only way I can do this is by doing installs over and over again and reading up on all the documentation to ensure I know what the screens look like, and what options are available to me. I am working for a small company and most of us don't specialise in any one field of technology, for example I mainly work on the web and database servers, but also have strong experience with email and Exchange. I firmly believe that the key to succeeding at this job is to believe you can work and are prepared to put in the hours to investigate the technology, and to work in a team where you can each play to each other's strengths and weaknesses. One good positive story is that we recently upgraded our IPT solution to use Cisco Unified Communications Manager/Unity 8, and the web interface for this is imho usable with JFW. There are pull down menus, but these speak really well, and all the web pages speak well without issue so far. I am really looking forward to continuing working with this system. One other thing I found with this system is if you use the enterprise attendant reception console and you use JFW, there are scripts in the installer for JFW which can be enabled at installation time. I am not sure how good these are but this is the first time I have seen this support for a screen reader out of the box. Thanks. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: 10 April 2012 21:36 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I guess I kind of cheated, I know another blind VMWare admin who works at a local university, and he showed me a lot of tricks to get started with ESX. I also started in a small environment with one host and about 20 VMs, that's before the company I was working for got bought out and I moved up to this environment. Expiramentation is very important though, and that's not just because you're blind, it is for a sighted person as well. Honestly, if this is a system you're expected to support, then your boss had better give you time to learn about it, otherwise they aren't using you effectively. If your boss expects you to come in and just know everything, that's just unreasonable. Sure, expiramentation has to be mixed in with real work, but that's normal for anyone. Even when we get the accessibility issues for SCCM 2012 figured out, I'm not implementing it until I've played with it in a lab and even been to a training course if its offered. These aren't things you run into. I consider accessibility as part of the package, if I can't access it to do my job, then what good am I? That includes figuring out work arounds. As to screen readers, I'm not trying to start a flame war here, but I find Window-Eyes is better for a systems admin than JAWS simply because of the licensing. I can get one copy of Window-Eyes tied to me, and so long as I'm the primary user, that one license can run on unlimited servers, handle RDP and all the good stuff. So I can have Window-Eyes preinstalled on the servers I build, and know when they finally get deployed its ready to go licensewise and my RDP sessions just work. I wish GW-Micro had a better installer, but I'm pretty happy with how Window-Eyes performs in the IT setting, especially coming from someone who beleives in purchasing his own equipment. Ryan ________________________________________ From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim [jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 8:44 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Wow, this is fantastic info. I have got to get into this. I know next to nothing about Windows system administration and only slightly more about VMWare. How didyou find time to figure all this out though? I have what I consider a very indulgent boss but she wouldn't give me all the time it would take to figure all that out. I mean, she gives me time to experiment but there are limits and I think she'd have told me to just get sighted assistance. I'd have to do it on my own time and that doesn't seem practical either. I can't afford my own jaws license. Well, I suppose I could afford it. It would be a heck of a bite though. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:14 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hi, I suspect the CallManager solution is quite expensive compared to Asterisk solutions but the technology is pretty much the same. In the Cisco world you have CUCM servers, a publisher server where all the changes are made and subscriber servers that attach to the publisher. The system supports all the Cisco branded handsets, which get configuration data from a TFTP server. In most other setups you need to put relevant phone files out on the TFTP server, however all this is taken care of in the CUCM setup with Cisco handsets. The servers run as virtual Linux appliances, though Cisco are very prescriptive about how the underlying VMware should be set up, and there is nothing like VMotion going on underneath, everything is handled by the cluster capability of the CUCM servers themselves. Configuration is web based for all the consoles which have a similar layout. The menus are pull down menus but JFW at least seem to have all the links presented for the menus, this does mean you need to use the jump options in the web page to get past the hundred or so links at the top of each page, but other than that it works fine. Our solution talks to a 2800 router which has an ISDN module in it for calls to the PSTN network. It can also do SIP trunking as and when we go down the SIP route for extra flexibility. The handsets use SCCP and not SIP to talk to the CUCM infrastructure though this can be changed if required (but everyone seems to recommend using SCCP on the handsets). I am going to try installing the softphone later this week to see how it works with JFW. I have heard that the current version of the instant messaging client (which we don't use yet) runs on Adobe Air, but future versions may be on a different architecture. I was hoping to hold off and deploy Linq, but it may be that we end up deploying the Cisco version as it is more self contained than Linq. I am holding off on this until I can get a definitive answer about the new IM client. Hope this helps. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Scott Granados Sent: 10 April 2012 22:05 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Andrew, Cisco is quite good. Even the VPN clients have screen reader / accessibility features. Tell me more about the call manager? How is it to use? How does it function / perform? I've always hand spun my solutions with Asterisk so haven't used the cisco offering. On Apr 10, 2012, at 5:00 PM, Andrew Hodgson wrote:

Hi,

I use Windoweyes exclusively in an RDP environment, I don't even have JFW licensed for RDP features.

One thing I should say is that I have a small amount of vision and can see to install a server OS via the console without any assistance. However, the only way I can do this is by doing installs over and over again and reading up on all the documentation to ensure I know what the screens look like, and what options are available to me.

I am working for a small company and most of us don't specialise in any one field of technology, for example I mainly work on the web and database servers, but also have strong experience with email and Exchange. I firmly believe that the key to succeeding at this job is to believe you can work and are prepared to put in the hours to investigate the technology, and to work in a team where you can each play to each other's strengths and weaknesses.

One good positive story is that we recently upgraded our IPT solution to use Cisco Unified Communications Manager/Unity 8, and the web interface for this is imho usable with JFW. There are pull down menus, but these speak really well, and all the web pages speak well without issue so far. I am really looking forward to continuing working with this system. One other thing I found with this system is if you use the enterprise attendant reception console and you use JFW, there are scripts in the installer for JFW which can be enabled at installation time. I am not sure how good these are but this is the first time I have seen this support for a screen reader out of the box.

Thanks. Andrew.

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Shugart Sent: 10 April 2012 21:36 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

I guess I kind of cheated, I know another blind VMWare admin who works at a local university, and he showed me a lot of tricks to get started with ESX. I also started in a small environment with one host and about 20 VMs, that's before the company I was working for got bought out and I moved up to this environment. Expiramentation is very important though, and that's not just because you're blind, it is for a sighted person as well. Honestly, if this is a system you're expected to support, then your boss had better give you time to learn about it, otherwise they aren't using you effectively. If your boss expects you to come in and just know everything, that's just unreasonable. Sure, expiramentation has to be mixed in with real work, but that's normal for anyone. Even when we get the accessibility issues for SCCM 2012 figured out, I'm not implementing it until I've played with it in a lab and even been to a training course if its offered. These aren't things you run into. I consider accessibility as part of the package, if I can't access it to do my job, then what good am I? That includes figuring out work arounds. As to screen readers, I'm not trying to start a flame war here, but I find Window-Eyes is better for a systems admin than JAWS simply because of the licensing. I can get one copy of Window-Eyes tied to me, and so long as I'm the primary user, that one license can run on unlimited servers, handle RDP and all the good stuff. So I can have Window-Eyes preinstalled on the servers I build, and know when they finally get deployed its ready to go licensewise and my RDP sessions just work. I wish GW-Micro had a better installer, but I'm pretty happy with how Window-Eyes performs in the IT setting, especially coming from someone who beleives in purchasing his own equipment. Ryan ________________________________________ From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim [jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 8:44 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Wow, this is fantastic info. I have got to get into this. I know next to nothing about Windows system administration and only slightly more about VMWare.

How didyou find time to figure all this out though? I have what I consider a very indulgent boss but she wouldn't give me all the time it would take to figure all that out. I mean, she gives me time to experiment but there are limits and I think she'd have told me to just get sighted assistance. I'd have to do it on my own time and that doesn't seem practical either. I can't afford my own jaws license. Well, I suppose I could afford it. It would be a heck of a bite though.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:14 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

...

I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hello, I remember Ryan saing that he used VMWare workstation to create VM's and then he uploaded them to ESXI. I'm just wondering, what people use for uploading these VM's? VMWare Converter is now a standalone application and Jaws cannot read it's application windows at all! In previous versions I was able to successfully use the VSphere plugin. Any suggestions appreciated. I don't mind using the CLI and in fact, based on peoples feedback last week I intend to give the commandline a lot more attention over the coming weeks. Thanks Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 10/04/2012 07:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Darragh: If you use Workstation, you don't need converter. Workstation will work with VCenter directly. Outside of that, I've exported VMs to .OVF and then imported them into the target system, that helps a lot. Just what kinds of things do you want to use converter for? Moving from where to where? I don't think there is an accessible solution for doing P2V, physical to virtual, but we use the cold clone CD for those anyway. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 3:38 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] VMWare converter. Hello, I remember Ryan saing that he used VMWare workstation to create VM's and then he uploaded them to ESXI. I'm just wondering, what people use for uploading these VM's? VMWare Converter is now a standalone application and Jaws cannot read it's application windows at all! In previous versions I was able to successfully use the VSphere plugin. Any suggestions appreciated. I don't mind using the CLI and in fact, based on peoples feedback last week I intend to give the commandline a lot more attention over the coming weeks. Thanks Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 10/04/2012 07:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hey Ryan, It's kind of a once off situation unfortunately. An application provider has gone out of business and one of our workstation engineers virtualized a system a while ago with this application installed. I now need to host it on our desktop cluster so that it's available in the years to come. This place is kind of crazy when it comes to data retention. I have no need to install VMWare workstation on this machine and I wouldn't say we're licenced for many installations either. I'm probably going to be left with no other option but to get someone sighted to look at my screen while I tell them where to click. See what i mean? this is just one example of where doing this job is becoming unrealistic. Another example is in the scheduler of VSphere. I'm remediating a lot of servers and workstations at the moment. A few updates need to be deployed. The UI is great from a visual perspective because when different boxes are ticked, the results at the bottom of the screen show machines that have the updates applied and those that do not. Using Jaws, I have absolutely no way of determining this. I'm sorting the results by status and this is partially helping but it's slowing me down a lot. I could go on. I've been reading about the VSphere power cli more over the past while. I created a few scripts for it a few months ago but the administration guides etc seem to really focus on script development and not as a command line interface. Which is a bit weird I think. Do you have any good sources where I can read about this more? I've been using the reference manual a lot but the problem with that is it doesn't really separate commands that can be run on a VCentre and commands that can only be run directly on a host. For example, one thing I'm doing a lot of at the moment is disk copies. One data store might have two disks from a server then the larger data drives are on another data store. To use the copy-hardDisk command you need to be connected directly to the host. Not really what I want to do. I'd spend a lot of time moving around hosts if that was part of the tasks. And, isn't that what VCenter is suppose to get around? I know VSphere could be improved by a decent jaws scripter but when I asked for someone to take the job on a year ago no one came forward. I was willing to pay at the time. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 16/04/2012 14:49 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] VMWare converter. Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Darragh: If you use Workstation, you don't need converter. Workstation will work with VCenter directly. Outside of that, I've exported VMs to .OVF and then imported them into the target system, that helps a lot. Just what kinds of things do you want to use converter for? Moving from where to where? I don't think there is an accessible solution for doing P2V, physical to virtual, but we use the cold clone CD for those anyway. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 3:38 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] VMWare converter. Hello, I remember Ryan saing that he used VMWare workstation to create VM's and then he uploaded them to ESXI. I'm just wondering, what people use for uploading these VM's? VMWare Converter is now a standalone application and Jaws cannot read it's application windows at all! In previous versions I was able to successfully use the VSphere plugin. Any suggestions appreciated. I don't mind using the CLI and in fact, based on peoples feedback last week I intend to give the commandline a lot more attention over the coming weeks. Thanks Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 10/04/2012 07:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Darragh: So you're basically moving a VM from one cluster to another? I assume you don't have a VCenter server with both clusters connected to it, if you did that'd be the best solution. However, if it's a VM already, I still think you should be able to export the VM to an OVF file, then just import the OVF into the cluster you want, and it should work fine. No need to touch converter. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 8:06 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] VMWare converter. Hey Ryan, It's kind of a once off situation unfortunately. An application provider has gone out of business and one of our workstation engineers virtualized a system a while ago with this application installed. I now need to host it on our desktop cluster so that it's available in the years to come. This place is kind of crazy when it comes to data retention. I have no need to install VMWare workstation on this machine and I wouldn't say we're licenced for many installations either. I'm probably going to be left with no other option but to get someone sighted to look at my screen while I tell them where to click. See what i mean? this is just one example of where doing this job is becoming unrealistic. Another example is in the scheduler of VSphere. I'm remediating a lot of servers and workstations at the moment. A few updates need to be deployed. The UI is great from a visual perspective because when different boxes are ticked, the results at the bottom of the screen show machines that have the updates applied and those that do not. Using Jaws, I have absolutely no way of determining this. I'm sorting the results by status and this is partially helping but it's slowing me down a lot. I could go on. I've been reading about the VSphere power cli more over the past while. I created a few scripts for it a few months ago but the administration guides etc seem to really focus on script development and not as a command line interface. Which is a bit weird I think. Do you have any good sources where I can read about this more? I've been using the reference manual a lot but the problem with that is it doesn't really separate commands that can be run on a VCentre and commands that can only be run directly on a host. For example, one thing I'm doing a lot of at the moment is disk copies. One data store might have two disks from a server then the larger data drives are on another data store. To use the copy-hardDisk command you need to be connected directly to the host. Not really what I want to do. I'd spend a lot of time moving around hosts if that was part of the tasks. And, isn't that what VCenter is suppose to get around? I know VSphere could be improved by a decent jaws scripter but when I asked for someone to take the job on a year ago no one came forward. I was willing to pay at the time. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 16/04/2012 14:49 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] VMWare converter. Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Darragh: If you use Workstation, you don't need converter. Workstation will work with VCenter directly. Outside of that, I've exported VMs to .OVF and then imported them into the target system, that helps a lot. Just what kinds of things do you want to use converter for? Moving from where to where? I don't think there is an accessible solution for doing P2V, physical to virtual, but we use the cold clone CD for those anyway. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 3:38 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] VMWare converter. Hello, I remember Ryan saing that he used VMWare workstation to create VM's and then he uploaded them to ESXI. I'm just wondering, what people use for uploading these VM's? VMWare Converter is now a standalone application and Jaws cannot read it's application windows at all! In previous versions I was able to successfully use the VSphere plugin. Any suggestions appreciated. I don't mind using the CLI and in fact, based on peoples feedback last week I intend to give the commandline a lot more attention over the coming weeks. Thanks Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 10/04/2012 07:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP , and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

I have to agree that VMWare is far from the most accessible piece of software out there, but its certainly doable. I manage a VMWare environment with about 35 ESX hosts and about 700 VMS, and I'm very effective. It all boils down to learning good techniques. True, ESX and ESXI don't support sound, but if you're working in a Windows environment with mainly Windows guests you will be hopefully using a screen reader with good RDP support so sound isn't an issue anyway. When I build a new VM, I build the VM in VMWare's Workstation product that does support sound, and will install guest OS's for you. So I build the OS, install the screen reader, get RDP working then upload the completed VM to the esx environment and then just use RDP to admin the machine from there on out. All of our templates have a screen reader on them with RDP support enabled and configured so when I do day to day deployments I just clone a template, find out the IP address from the VIC, log in using RDP, and I'm good to go. So its all doable, it just takes working out some different techniques. Get to know your screen reader well, know its mouse support, make sure you're on the latest version, and the VIC should work reasonably. I think the only scripting I use regularly is a command to always move me back to the treeview of VMs. Also, VMWare has a Powershell interface available that actually is pretty good about duplicating all functions of the VIC via commandline. One of the annoying things is that the Update Manager component has no accessibility at all, but that's all available using PowerCLI and that's how I update the ESX hosts. Another thing that's annoying is finding VMs in the VIC. Again PowerCLI to the rescue, if I know the name of the VM, I just punch it into PowerCLI and away I go. I can move VMs around, change resource pools all from there and many times I just use the VIC to monitor tasks. I could do that from PowerCLI too but I'm too lazy to learn the commands. Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:25 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2... 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Wow, that is negative. I do totally understand where it comes from, and I've had days I've felt like giving up myself, but I don't think its time for blind sysadmins to turn in our resignations yet. Personally if I were to look into the crystal ball I see our jobs becoming a lot more specialized than they are today. At least in the Windows world, perhaps the days of a blind person running the whole network themselves are over. I think specialization is still possible, for example becoming a VMWare expert and knowing that that and only that or a an SCCM expert and knowing that that and only that. That's not that uncommon out there. I don't know about VMWare, but a lot of SCCM people specialize in SCCM, and that's all they know. For accessibility reasons that might be easier for us. It doesn't make the software easier to manage, but it means that a scripting specialist can come in and script that one application. Is that a good approach, having someone come in and script things for us? No, but I think its going to be more common not less, for better or worse. And not just systems administration. Accesswise, we're loosing the battle sorry to say. I have no idea where Microsoft thinks they're going in accessibility, but they are missing the boat so badly I'm surprised they're not drownding. Just try the Narrator in Windows 8 and compare it to their claims to learn they're clueless. I don't hold the AT companies blameless though. I don't think they push hard enough, I don't think they move quick enough, and I think they are too quick to put out a fire rather than solve a longterm problem. Case in point, UIA's been around for many years now, and AT companies are now just starting to support it? If they'd had people playing with UIA right away when it came out and we spoke up then, perhaps Microsoft would have listened more. I mean, to be honest, MS is probably saying to themselves, "come on guys, UIA's been out for years. Where were you in 2006?" I'm still waiting to hear from our TAM on SCCM 2012. I don't think I'll get Microsoft to redo the UI for this even though I've complained to them about this for over a year and have public comments that SCCM 2012 will be perfectly accessible. Well perhaps I can get MS to pay for scripting? I don't know. But what else can I do? Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:15 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother. Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server. People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish! When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to? Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there. Rant over. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

I know. It's certainly negative but although we're getting to a situation where it is unlikely that a blind person will be able to independently manage an entire network this is unacceptable. Maybe not to us, but certainly for the majority of employers. Look at the place I work in, we are a very large organization but in total we have about 1900 workstations and hmmm. Probably a minimum of 500 servers. Consolidation and virtualization has decreased this number We have three consultants, one network and firewall administrator and two system administrators. Between myself and the other guy that works with me, we are expected to manage dozens of systems from specific applications for certain sections to mail, web content switches, SCCM and SCOM, the SSLVPN, Remote Access Sites, new server deployments, ESXI, infrastructure monitoring, UPS, Door access control and a lot more. The list of applications and systems I have increasing problems with is growing. I get on really well with the other system administrator and he hasn't complained yet but as I need to swap and change to try to even out the work load the more he is noticing I cant access systems to the same level as I was able to twelve months ago. Although we might think specializing in one particular system such as SCCM is a realistic and viable solution, I don't think companies will see this as cost effective. Especially when over here every company needs to apply very strict cost saving measures. The days of pushing for a single backup administrator are gone for example. I hate to be negative but that's how I see things at the moment and it is a fair analysis of the situation I find myself in. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 10/04/2012 08:49 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Wow, that is negative. I do totally understand where it comes from, and I've had days I've felt like giving up myself, but I don't think its time for blind sysadmins to turn in our resignations yet. Personally if I were to look into the crystal ball I see our jobs becoming a lot more specialized than they are today. At least in the Windows world, perhaps the days of a blind person running the whole network themselves are over. I think specialization is still possible, for example becoming a VMWare expert and knowing that that and only that or a an SCCM expert and knowing that that and only that. That's not that uncommon out there. I don't know about VMWare, but a lot of SCCM people specialize in SCCM, and that's all they know. For accessibility reasons that might be easier for us. It doesn't make the software easier to manage, but it means that a scripting specialist can come in and script that one application. Is that a good approach, having someone come in and script things for us? No, but I think its going to be more common not less, for better or worse. And not just systems administration. Accesswise, we're loosing the battle sorry to say. I have no idea where Microsoft thinks they're going in accessibility, but they are missing the boat so badly I'm surprised they're not drownding. Just try the Narrator in Windows 8 and compare it to their claims to learn they're clueless. I don't hold the AT companies blameless though. I don't think they push hard enough, I don't think they move quick enough, and I think they are too quick to put out a fire rather than solve a longterm problem. Case in point, UIA's been around for many years now, and AT companies are now just starting to support it? If they'd had people playing with UIA right away when it came out and we spoke up then, perhaps Microsoft would have listened more. I mean, to be honest, MS is probably saying to themselves, "come on guys, UIA's been out for years. Where were you in 2006?" I'm still waiting to hear from our TAM on SCCM 2012. I don't think I'll get Microsoft to redo the UI for this even though I've complained to them about this for over a year and have public comments that SCCM 2012 will be perfectly accessible. Well perhaps I can get MS to pay for scripting? I don't know. But what else can I do? Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:15 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother. Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server. People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish! When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to? Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there. Rant over. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Darragh: I can't speak to your environment specifically, but we have about the same number of workstations and servers, maybe a few more servers. In total we have 23 people in our MIS department, six on my team alone. I manage VMWare, SCCM and some AD issues, this includes new VM deployments. We have another guy who manages Exchange, Communicator and the rest of AD. We have one, soon to be two, people managing Citrix, one guy who manages the networking equipment, one guy for backups and a generalist who handles hardware and the like. And that's just this team. There are other teams who handle web servers, database administration, etc. We're actually understaffed for the environment we need to manage, we could use three or four people, all specialists. I work in private industry so perhaps that's different, but from what I've seen around the rest of the industry, we're pretty typical. I'm on an SCCM mailing list, and I think I'm one of a handful of people who manages SCCM all by themselves, most people are on teams of nothing but SCCM administrators, and that seems common for other products as well. Specialization is growing, not shrinking. IT is getting more siloized, not less. This, of course, has its down sides as well as there's less communication and you run into many more left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, but I hope this will balance out the accessibility issues a little bit. Let's not kid ourselves, its not just IT facing these issues, a blind person in any reasonable job is going to use a computer at some point. Unless they work in an environment where everything's been sanatized and made very blind friendly they're going to run into accessibility issues. I know there are many environments like that, but more than likely they're environments I really don't want to work in. I'll say again what I said last night, a lot of what we're facing is that technology is changing so fast the AT industry has no clue what's going on out there and no idea how to keep up. I don't leave mainstream companies blameless, not by a long shot. But when people at the various screen reader manufacturers don't even know where trends are going in the enterprise world, how can they hope to acomodate them? Don't get me wrong, I get very frustrated myself, all the time. Just today I was working with a VM that stopped booting and I will either need to get sighted assistance to read the console to me, or trash the VM and start from scratch. I might end up doing that anyway. Its honestly the little things. For me its just knowing my environment really well, knowing the access software really well, and knowing what my limits are and communicating them. I've been able to work pretty well with my coworkers. Ryan ________________________________________ From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh [Darragh.OHeiligh@Oireachtas.ie] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:02 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I know. It's certainly negative but although we're getting to a situation where it is unlikely that a blind person will be able to independently manage an entire network this is unacceptable. Maybe not to us, but certainly for the majority of employers. Look at the place I work in, we are a very large organization but in total we have about 1900 workstations and hmmm. Probably a minimum of 500 servers. Consolidation and virtualization has decreased this number We have three consultants, one network and firewall administrator and two system administrators. Between myself and the other guy that works with me, we are expected to manage dozens of systems from specific applications for certain sections to mail, web content switches, SCCM and SCOM, the SSLVPN, Remote Access Sites, new server deployments, ESXI, infrastructure monitoring, UPS, Door access control and a lot more. The list of applications and systems I have increasing problems with is growing. I get on really well with the other system administrator and he hasn't complained yet but as I need to swap and change to try to even out the work load the more he is noticing I cant access systems to the same level as I was able to twelve months ago. Although we might think specializing in one particular system such as SCCM is a realistic and viable solution, I don't think companies will see this as cost effective. Especially when over here every company needs to apply very strict cost saving measures. The days of pushing for a single backup administrator are gone for example. I hate to be negative but that's how I see things at the moment and it is a fair analysis of the situation I find myself in. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Ryan Shugart <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 10/04/2012 08:49 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Wow, that is negative. I do totally understand where it comes from, and I've had days I've felt like giving up myself, but I don't think its time for blind sysadmins to turn in our resignations yet. Personally if I were to look into the crystal ball I see our jobs becoming a lot more specialized than they are today. At least in the Windows world, perhaps the days of a blind person running the whole network themselves are over. I think specialization is still possible, for example becoming a VMWare expert and knowing that that and only that or a an SCCM expert and knowing that that and only that. That's not that uncommon out there. I don't know about VMWare, but a lot of SCCM people specialize in SCCM, and that's all they know. For accessibility reasons that might be easier for us. It doesn't make the software easier to manage, but it means that a scripting specialist can come in and script that one application. Is that a good approach, having someone come in and script things for us? No, but I think its going to be more common not less, for better or worse. And not just systems administration. Accesswise, we're loosing the battle sorry to say. I have no idea where Microsoft thinks they're going in accessibility, but they are missing the boat so badly I'm surprised they're not drownding. Just try the Narrator in Windows 8 and compare it to their claims to learn they're clueless. I don't hold the AT companies blameless though. I don't think they push hard enough, I don't think they move quick enough, and I think they are too quick to put out a fire rather than solve a longterm problem. Case in point, UIA's been around for many years now, and AT companies are now just starting to support it? If they'd had people playing with UIA right away when it came out and we spoke up then, perhaps Microsoft would have listened more. I mean, to be honest, MS is probably saying to themselves, "come on guys, UIA's been out for years. Where were you in 2006?" I'm still waiting to hear from our TAM on SCCM 2012. I don't think I'll get Microsoft to redo the UI for this even though I've complained to them about this for over a year and have public comments that SCCM 2012 will be perfectly accessible. Well perhaps I can get MS to pay for scripting? I don't know. But what else can I do? Ryan -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [ mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:15 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother. Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server. People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish! When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to? Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there. Rant over. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool. In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine. In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely. The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

I think you both have some good points. My department went heavily into VMWare about 5 years ago. I got stuck before I even managed to install esx on our first server. They had a serial console install in esx 3.0 but it brought up a splash screen on the main console and you had to click on the logo to get past it. This is during a serial console install. So I had to turn the installation over to a co-worker. Not to criticize my co-worker too much but he's not the kind of guy who would normally be your "go to" guy. When the clock strikes 4:30, he is gone. I can't blame him for that. But I'm not like that. I want to be the guy they look to when things get rough. I'll work evenings and weekends. I'll put my own time in studying the latest, greatest new technology. Even so, they took that VMWare job away from me and gave it to him because he can see. There is still plenty of work around here for me to do and I'm in no danger of losing my job. But this phenomena where blind people lose out on the part of the job dealing with new technology is so common, I have even coined a term for it. I call it getting backwatered. If you are a blind technologist and you haven't been backwatered at some point in your career, you should consider yourself extremely lucky. Personally, I don't intend to go down without a fight. So that's why I formed the International Association of Visually Impaired Technologists. There doesn't seem to be enough people around who feel passionately enough about it to make a difference though. We are looking for people to deal with this very issue. We even have something of a plan. There is a law in the United States that says that government agencies cannot buy inaccessible software when an accessible alternative is available. And if the agency wants to buy inaccessible software, they have to provide justification for doing so. Technically, my department violated government regulations whne it bought VMWare. Of course, the law has practically no teeth as my own situation demonstrates. But, the law in combination with help from us might get VMWare to take action. We want to create a checklist for companies like VMWare to follow when working toward accessibility. The checklist would include things like designating someone to be responsible for accessibility and actively recruiting blind beta testers. So the idea is that we put pressure on companies to pay attention to accessibility because of the law and follow it up with the checklist on how to approach solving the problem. And then hope for the best. We'd also like to see the European Union adopt the same regulation about government agencies buying inaccessible software. You might say this is a lame plan. Pie in the sky. But if you've got a better plan, I'd like to hear it. Honestly, it may be futile but like I said, I don't intend to go down without a fight. -- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:49 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Wow, that is negative. I do totally understand where it comes from, and I've had days I've felt like giving up myself, but I don't think its time for blind sysadmins to turn in our resignations yet. Personally if I were to look into the crystal ball I see our jobs becoming a lot more specialized than they are today. At least in the Windows world, perhaps the days of a blind person running the whole network themselves are over. I think specialization is still possible, for example becoming a VMWare expert and knowing that that and only that or a an SCCM expert and knowing that that and only that. That's not that uncommon out there. I don't know about VMWare, but a lot of SCCM people specialize in SCCM, and that's all they know. For accessibility reasons that might be easier for us. It doesn't make the software easier to manage, but it means that a scripting specialist can come in and script that one application. Is that a good approach, having someone come in and script things for us? No, but I think its going to be more common not less, for better or worse. And not just systems administration. Accesswise, we're loosing the battle sorry to say. I have no idea where Microsoft thinks they're going in accessibility, but they are missing the boat so badly I'm surprised they're not drownding. Just try the Narrator in Windows 8 and compare it to their claims to learn they're clueless. I don't hold the AT companies blameless though. I don't think they push hard enough, I don't think they move quick enough, and I think they are too quick to put out a fire rather than solve a longterm problem. Case in point, UIA's been around for many years now, and AT companies are now just starting to support it? If they'd had people playing with UIA right away when it came out and we spoke up then, perhaps Microsoft would have listened more. I mean, to be honest, MS is probably saying to themselves, "come on guys, UIA's been out for years. Where were you in 2006?" I'm still waiting to hear from our TAM on SCCM 2012. I don't think I'll get Microsoft to redo the UI for this even though I've complained to them about this for over a year and have public comments that SCCM 2012 will be perfectly accessible. Well perhaps I can get MS to pay for scripting? I don't know. But what else can I do? Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:15 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

John: Is the law you're talking about section 508? If so, I've seen that card played and it really doesn't work, for unexpected reasons. I once worked as a 508 compliance tester. We were testing an application from a company called Siebel that's now owned by Oracle, I don't think the application exists anymore. It was webbased, it was a web 2.0 application before its time. And it worked horribly with a screen reader, in that a blind person could not be anywhere near as effective as a sighted coworker. That said, the application was fully 508 compliant. Section 508 just isn't written well enough. Sure it covers the basics, but there's just an intangeble it doesn't cover. Unfortunately I really can't think of anything better. I do agree, however, that we need a lot more blind people out there testing these applications. I wonder though if there are enough computer literate blind people to test them all? Honestly, there are a lot of adaptive technology trainers and so called experts I really get scared to be around. Ryan ________________________________________ From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim [jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 7:59 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I think you both have some good points. My department went heavily into VMWare about 5 years ago. I got stuck before I even managed to install esx on our first server. They had a serial console install in esx 3.0 but it brought up a splash screen on the main console and you had to click on the logo to get past it. This is during a serial console install. So I had to turn the installation over to a co-worker. Not to criticize my co-worker too much but he's not the kind of guy who would normally be your "go to" guy. When the clock strikes 4:30, he is gone. I can't blame him for that. But I'm not like that. I want to be the guy they look to when things get rough. I'll work evenings and weekends. I'll put my own time in studying the latest, greatest new technology. Even so, they took that VMWare job away from me and gave it to him because he can see. There is still plenty of work around here for me to do and I'm in no danger of losing my job. But this phenomena where blind people lose out on the part of the job dealing with new technology is so common, I have even coined a term for it. I call it getting backwatered. If you are a blind technologist and you haven't been backwatered at some point in your career, you should consider yourself extremely lucky. Personally, I don't intend to go down without a fight. So that's why I formed the International Association of Visually Impaired Technologists. There doesn't seem to be enough people around who feel passionately enough about it to make a difference though. We are looking for people to deal with this very issue. We even have something of a plan. There is a law in the United States that says that government agencies cannot buy inaccessible software when an accessible alternative is available. And if the agency wants to buy inaccessible software, they have to provide justification for doing so. Technically, my department violated government regulations whne it bought VMWare. Of course, the law has practically no teeth as my own situation demonstrates. But, the law in combination with help from us might get VMWare to take action. We want to create a checklist for companies like VMWare to follow when working toward accessibility. The checklist would include things like designating someone to be responsible for accessibility and actively recruiting blind beta testers. So the idea is that we put pressure on companies to pay attention to accessibility because of the law and follow it up with the checklist on how to approach solving the problem. And then hope for the best. We'd also like to see the European Union adopt the same regulation about government agencies buying inaccessible software. You might say this is a lame plan. Pie in the sky. But if you've got a better plan, I'd like to hear it. Honestly, it may be futile but like I said, I don't intend to go down without a fight. -- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:49 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Wow, that is negative. I do totally understand where it comes from, and I've had days I've felt like giving up myself, but I don't think its time for blind sysadmins to turn in our resignations yet. Personally if I were to look into the crystal ball I see our jobs becoming a lot more specialized than they are today. At least in the Windows world, perhaps the days of a blind person running the whole network themselves are over. I think specialization is still possible, for example becoming a VMWare expert and knowing that that and only that or a an SCCM expert and knowing that that and only that. That's not that uncommon out there. I don't know about VMWare, but a lot of SCCM people specialize in SCCM, and that's all they know. For accessibility reasons that might be easier for us. It doesn't make the software easier to manage, but it means that a scripting specialist can come in and script that one application. Is that a good approach, having someone come in and script things for us? No, but I think its going to be more common not less, for better or worse. And not just systems administration. Accesswise, we're loosing the battle sorry to say. I have no idea where Microsoft thinks they're going in accessibility, but they are missing the boat so badly I'm surprised they're not drownding. Just try the Narrator in Windows 8 and compare it to their claims to learn they're clueless. I don't hold the AT companies blameless though. I don't think they push hard enough, I don't think they move quick enough, and I think they are too quick to put out a fire rather than solve a longterm problem. Case in point, UIA's been around for many years now, and AT companies are now just starting to support it? If they'd had people playing with UIA right away when it came out and we spoke up then, perhaps Microsoft would have listened more. I mean, to be honest, MS is probably saying to themselves, "come on guys, UIA's been out for years. Where were you in 2006?" I'm still waiting to hear from our TAM on SCCM 2012. I don't think I'll get Microsoft to redo the UI for this even though I've complained to them about this for over a year and have public comments that SCCM 2012 will be perfectly accessible. Well perhaps I can get MS to pay for scripting? I don't know. But what else can I do? Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:15 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Yeah, I know the 508 regulations are bogus but I don't think it matters that much for our purposes. Oracle did a lot of work on accessibility over the past few years because several universities, including mine, put pressure on them to improve accessibility. So I hope the combination of pressure from government agencies, help from the blind community, and the fact that even corporate big shots are human will make the difference in our efforts to make more companies pay attention to accessibility. I met Steve Herrod, CTO of VMWare at a seminar a couple of years ago. I went up and introduced myself and explained how important accessibility is to a blind systems admin. He seemed quite receptive. But he asked me for some specific recommendations and I didn't really have anything I could give him. That's when I asked on this list for some help. If anyone still wants to get involved in this, it is not too late. In fact, that part of IAVIT has been totally stagnant and I'd really like to get going on it. I don't mind leading the charge. But if VMWare comes back to me and asks specific questions, I need to be assured that there will be people to help me out. I am not going to approach VMWare pretending to be representing blind systems admins only to have to admit eventually that its just me. What I'd like to do is to form a team and then get together via skype to brainstorm. I already have a tentative plan but we can talk about that too. Please let me know if you're willing to get involved. I think we have the chance to change the world here -- not by much but just the tiniest little bit. To whom much is given, much is expected. You people on this list are the best of the best. You owe it to those less fortunate than yourselves to do what you can. If not you, who? I'm not going to lose my job if VMWare remains inaccessible. But I'm willing to put in the time and effort to try to get them to fix their products because I know if people like me don't do it, nobody will. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 3:43 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers John: Is the law you're talking about section 508? If so, I've seen that card played and it really doesn't work, for unexpected reasons. I once worked as a 508 compliance tester. We were testing an application from a company called Siebel that's now owned by Oracle, I don't think the application exists anymore. It was webbased, it was a web 2.0 application before its time. And it worked horribly with a screen reader, in that a blind person could not be anywhere near as effective as a sighted coworker. That said, the application was fully 508 compliant. Section 508 just isn't written well enough. Sure it covers the basics, but there's just an intangeble it doesn't cover. Unfortunately I really can't think of anything better. I do agree, however, that we need a lot more blind people out there testing these applications. I wonder though if there are enough computer literate blind people to test them all? Honestly, there are a lot of adaptive technology trainers and so called experts I really get scared to be around. Ryan ________________________________________ From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of John Heim [jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 7:59 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I think you both have some good points. My department went heavily into VMWare about 5 years ago. I got stuck before I even managed to install esx on our first server. They had a serial console install in esx 3.0 but it brought up a splash screen on the main console and you had to click on the logo to get past it. This is during a serial console install. So I had to turn the installation over to a co-worker. Not to criticize my co-worker too much but he's not the kind of guy who would normally be your "go to" guy. When the clock strikes 4:30, he is gone. I can't blame him for that. But I'm not like that. I want to be the guy they look to when things get rough. I'll work evenings and weekends. I'll put my own time in studying the latest, greatest new technology. Even so, they took that VMWare job away from me and gave it to him because he can see. There is still plenty of work around here for me to do and I'm in no danger of losing my job. But this phenomena where blind people lose out on the part of the job dealing with new technology is so common, I have even coined a term for it. I call it getting backwatered. If you are a blind technologist and you haven't been backwatered at some point in your career, you should consider yourself extremely lucky. Personally, I don't intend to go down without a fight. So that's why I formed the International Association of Visually Impaired Technologists. There doesn't seem to be enough people around who feel passionately enough about it to make a difference though. We are looking for people to deal with this very issue. We even have something of a plan. There is a law in the United States that says that government agencies cannot buy inaccessible software when an accessible alternative is available. And if the agency wants to buy inaccessible software, they have to provide justification for doing so. Technically, my department violated government regulations whne it bought VMWare. Of course, the law has practically no teeth as my own situation demonstrates. But, the law in combination with help from us might get VMWare to take action. We want to create a checklist for companies like VMWare to follow when working toward accessibility. The checklist would include things like designating someone to be responsible for accessibility and actively recruiting blind beta testers. So the idea is that we put pressure on companies to pay attention to accessibility because of the law and follow it up with the checklist on how to approach solving the problem. And then hope for the best. We'd also like to see the European Union adopt the same regulation about government agencies buying inaccessible software. You might say this is a lame plan. Pie in the sky. But if you've got a better plan, I'd like to hear it. Honestly, it may be futile but like I said, I don't intend to go down without a fight. -- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan Shugart" <rshugart@pcisys.net> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:49 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Wow, that is negative. I do totally understand where it comes from, and I've had days I've felt like giving up myself, but I don't think its time for blind sysadmins to turn in our resignations yet. Personally if I were to look into the crystal ball I see our jobs becoming a lot more specialized than they are today. At least in the Windows world, perhaps the days of a blind person running the whole network themselves are over. I think specialization is still possible, for example becoming a VMWare expert and knowing that that and only that or a an SCCM expert and knowing that that and only that. That's not that uncommon out there. I don't know about VMWare, but a lot of SCCM people specialize in SCCM, and that's all they know. For accessibility reasons that might be easier for us. It doesn't make the software easier to manage, but it means that a scripting specialist can come in and script that one application. Is that a good approach, having someone come in and script things for us? No, but I think its going to be more common not less, for better or worse. And not just systems administration. Accesswise, we're loosing the battle sorry to say. I have no idea where Microsoft thinks they're going in accessibility, but they are missing the boat so badly I'm surprised they're not drownding. Just try the Narrator in Windows 8 and compare it to their claims to learn they're clueless. I don't hold the AT companies blameless though. I don't think they push hard enough, I don't think they move quick enough, and I think they are too quick to put out a fire rather than solve a longterm problem. Case in point, UIA's been around for many years now, and AT companies are now just starting to support it? If they'd had people playing with UIA right away when it came out and we spoke up then, perhaps Microsoft would have listened more. I mean, to be honest, MS is probably saying to themselves, "come on guys, UIA's been out for years. Where were you in 2006?" I'm still waiting to hear from our TAM on SCCM 2012. I don't think I'll get Microsoft to redo the UI for this even though I've complained to them about this for over a year and have public comments that SCCM 2012 will be perfectly accessible. Well perhaps I can get MS to pay for scripting? I don't know. But what else can I do? Ryan

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Darragh OHeiligh Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 1:15 AM To: Blind sysadmins list Cc: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Does anyone know of any blind people working successfuly as database administrators, specifically in the area of SQL Server? -----Original Message----- From: John Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10:24 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I don't think we can just give up though because systems administration is one of the few highly paid jobs still open to blind people now that piano tuning and selling pencils on the street corner have gone away. Seriously, I know where you're coming from. Even linux seens to be getting less accessible, not more so. I think the question becomes, what are we going to do about it? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darragh OHeiligh" <Darragh.OHeiligh@Oireachtas.ie> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Cc: <blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:15 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over

inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial

The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software

they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage

I administer an SQL cluster here. I may be able to answer your questions. Regards Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie From: Alex Coleman <AlexC@davis-express.com> To: Blind sysadmins list <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 10/04/2012 15:37 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org Does anyone know of any blind people working successfuly as database administrators, specifically in the area of SQL Server? -----Original Message----- From: John Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10:24 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I don't think we can just give up though because systems administration is one of the few highly paid jobs still open to blind people now that piano tuning and selling pencils on the street corner have gone away. Seriously, I know where you're coming from. Even linux seens to be getting less accessible, not more so. I think the question becomes, what are we going to do about it? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darragh OHeiligh" <Darragh.OHeiligh@Oireachtas.ie> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Cc: <blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:15 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers the people. that the

virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hi, I work with databases all the time with SQL Server 2008 R2, but use the database management studio remotely rather than connecting to the SQL server via RDP etc. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Alex Coleman Sent: 10 April 2012 15:37 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Does anyone know of any blind people working successfuly as database administrators, specifically in the area of SQL Server? -----Original Message----- From: John Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10:24 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I don't think we can just give up though because systems administration is one of the few highly paid jobs still open to blind people now that piano tuning and selling pencils on the street corner have gone away. Seriously, I know where you're coming from. Even linux seens to be getting less accessible, not more so. I think the question becomes, what are we going to do about it? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darragh OHeiligh" <Darragh.OHeiligh@Oireachtas.ie> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Cc: <blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:15 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent – Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont’d on page 2… 2 The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hi, I find the SQL Management Studio 2008 to be workable if you use the T-SQL for doing most things, the biggest issue for me is the tree view on the left-hand side of the screen, this doesn't reliably read using JFW or Wineyes and you shouldn't rely on what the screen reader is telling you in this view at all! Learning T-SQL is not hard imho and will make the job run smoother because it takes a lot less time to do work using it rather than going through the GUI. I have a library of scripts I use as well for common tasks I do on a daily/weekly basis. Thanks. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Juliano Cesar Ribeiro Sent: 10 April 2012 19:21 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] RES: any show stoppers I work database mssql server 2008 and sql management studio. Is a accessible tool using screen reader jaws or nvda. -----Mensagem original----- De: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] Em nome de Andrew Hodgson Enviada em: terça-feira, 10 de abril de 2012 15:17 Para: Blind sysadmins list Assunto: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Hi, I work with databases all the time with SQL Server 2008 R2, but use the database management studio remotely rather than connecting to the SQL server via RDP etc. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Alex Coleman Sent: 10 April 2012 15:37 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Does anyone know of any blind people working successfuly as database administrators, specifically in the area of SQL Server? -----Original Message----- From: John Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10:24 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I don't think we can just give up though because systems administration is one of the few highly paid jobs still open to blind people now that piano tuning and selling pencils on the street corner have gone away. Seriously, I know where you're coming from. Even linux seens to be getting less accessible, not more so. I think the question becomes, what are we going to do about it? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darragh OHeiligh" <Darragh.OHeiligh@Oireachtas.ie> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Cc: <blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:15 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2. 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Andrew, A couple of questions: 1. SMS 2005 presents the database hierarchy in a list form, rather than a tree view. However, when I moved to SMS 2008, like yourself, I found the tree view approach to be quite frustrating. My sighted I.T. counterpart said that the GUI looks the same in both versions. Do you know of any differences and why 2005 seems to be more accessible than 2008? 2. What types of SQL script libraries do you use for routine tasks? I.e. What particular jobs do you find this approach helpful with? Thanks, -----Original Message----- From: Andrew Hodgson [mailto:andrew@hodgsonfamily.org] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 14:26 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] RES: any show stoppers Hi, I find the SQL Management Studio 2008 to be workable if you use the T-SQL for doing most things, the biggest issue for me is the tree view on the left-hand side of the screen, this doesn't reliably read using JFW or Wineyes and you shouldn't rely on what the screen reader is telling you in this view at all! Learning T-SQL is not hard imho and will make the job run smoother because it takes a lot less time to do work using it rather than going through the GUI. I have a library of scripts I use as well for common tasks I do on a daily/weekly basis. Thanks. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Juliano Cesar Ribeiro Sent: 10 April 2012 19:21 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] RES: any show stoppers I work database mssql server 2008 and sql management studio. Is a accessible tool using screen reader jaws or nvda. -----Mensagem original----- De: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] Em nome de Andrew Hodgson Enviada em: terça-feira, 10 de abril de 2012 15:17 Para: Blind sysadmins list Assunto: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Hi, I work with databases all the time with SQL Server 2008 R2, but use the database management studio remotely rather than connecting to the SQL server via RDP etc. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Alex Coleman Sent: 10 April 2012 15:37 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Does anyone know of any blind people working successfuly as database administrators, specifically in the area of SQL Server? -----Original Message----- From: John Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10:24 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I don't think we can just give up though because systems administration is one of the few highly paid jobs still open to blind people now that piano tuning and selling pencils on the street corner have gone away. Seriously, I know where you're coming from. Even linux seens to be getting less accessible, not more so. I think the question becomes, what are we going to do about it? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darragh OHeiligh" <Darragh.OHeiligh@Oireachtas.ie> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Cc: <blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:15 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2. 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Hi, Yes, SMS 2005/2008 displays the list in the same way, it doesn't look any difference. The 2008 version looks more smooth with fading windows etc. The sort of tasks I do with scripts include backing up/restoring, user management, managing the various mirrors and log shipping we use, which is pretty much what you can use the GUI for. Any data exploration really needs the T-SQL imho anyway, and the query editor is workable with JFW imho. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Alex Coleman Sent: 10 April 2012 19:44 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] RES: any show stoppers Andrew, A couple of questions: 1. SMS 2005 presents the database hierarchy in a list form, rather than a tree view. However, when I moved to SMS 2008, like yourself, I found the tree view approach to be quite frustrating. My sighted I.T. counterpart said that the GUI looks the same in both versions. Do you know of any differences and why 2005 seems to be more accessible than 2008? 2. What types of SQL script libraries do you use for routine tasks? I.e. What particular jobs do you find this approach helpful with? Thanks, -----Original Message----- From: Andrew Hodgson [mailto:andrew@hodgsonfamily.org] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 14:26 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] RES: any show stoppers Hi, I find the SQL Management Studio 2008 to be workable if you use the T-SQL for doing most things, the biggest issue for me is the tree view on the left-hand side of the screen, this doesn't reliably read using JFW or Wineyes and you shouldn't rely on what the screen reader is telling you in this view at all! Learning T-SQL is not hard imho and will make the job run smoother because it takes a lot less time to do work using it rather than going through the GUI. I have a library of scripts I use as well for common tasks I do on a daily/weekly basis. Thanks. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Juliano Cesar Ribeiro Sent: 10 April 2012 19:21 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] RES: any show stoppers I work database mssql server 2008 and sql management studio. Is a accessible tool using screen reader jaws or nvda. -----Mensagem original----- De: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] Em nome de Andrew Hodgson Enviada em: terça-feira, 10 de abril de 2012 15:17 Para: Blind sysadmins list Assunto: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Hi, I work with databases all the time with SQL Server 2008 R2, but use the database management studio remotely rather than connecting to the SQL server via RDP etc. Andrew. -----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Alex Coleman Sent: 10 April 2012 15:37 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Does anyone know of any blind people working successfuly as database administrators, specifically in the area of SQL Server? -----Original Message----- From: John Heim [mailto:jheim@math.wisc.edu] Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10:24 To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers I don't think we can just give up though because systems administration is one of the few highly paid jobs still open to blind people now that piano tuning and selling pencils on the street corner have gone away. Seriously, I know where you're coming from. Even linux seens to be getting less accessible, not more so. I think the question becomes, what are we going to do about it? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Darragh OHeiligh" <Darragh.OHeiligh@Oireachtas.ie> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Cc: <blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 2:15 AM Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

Seriously, being a blind system administrator is simply not worth the hassle, stress and constant arguements and debates with companies over the inaccessibility of their software. My advice? Don't bother.

Sorry to be so negative about it but John has hit the nale on the head here. ESXI is not very accessible. VSphere is ok when your using it for 4 hours a day and your use to the clunky interface with Jaws but no. it's really not worth it. If I had an option I'd be out of here. I absolutely love this job. I love the part of the country I'm working in and I love the people and the office. Mcafee, VMWare, Microsoft, Trend, Symantec and Dell are just some of the companies I've been in talks with to try to get more accessible solutions but they won't hear a thing I say. I work for a very large organization that has the ear of some very influencial people. The minister for disabilities in the Irish government has even been involved in some of these discussions but still, companies such as McAfee still see the need for accesssibility as a feature request therefore it has been given a very low priority. Meanwhile, I'm left with less and less accessible applications. VMWare are doing great things at the moment. They are going to single handidly cause a revolution in the tech industry and htis is going tos tart around June or July. I had the oppertunity to meat some people who are very high up in the company last Wednesday and I may as well have been telling them that I wanted their weight in gold because I'd say to them, that was more atainable than making sure their software was accessible. When this new software is out, I know their going to want it here. In fact, they already have a consultant who is looking at the alternatives in anticipation of the new software releases because management want to jump on it as soon as possible. However, the new software will create even more problems for me because of the systemic problem of no sound output in virtual machines and absolutely no way of independently installing or troubleshooting ESXI when infront of the server.

People will remember that I've always been willing and able to find solutions to problems like this but I think the time has come when there are now too many problems and not enough solutions. Things should be getting better but their not. Companies like Microsoft shout from the roof tops that UIA is the best thing since sliced bread then they release SCCM 2012 and it's based on UIA. What do you know. It's rubbish!

When Microsoft, the company who colaberated on making UIA cant get it right, how the hell can we expect any other company to?

Credit where credit is due. Freedom Scientific and Oracle have been very helpful but there is only so much they can do. at some point, software developers and companies need to take responsibility for the software that they are throwing out there.

Rant over.

Regards

Darragh Ó Héiligh Fujitsu

Offices of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Fredrick Building, South Fredrick Street, Dublin2 Telephone: +353 (1) 618 3559 Email: darragh.oheiligh@oireachtas.ie Internet: http://www.oireachtas.ie

From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Date: 09/04/2012 20:14 Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers Sent by: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Esx and esxi do not support sound. In other words, you can't make a virtual machine with a sound card. There is no screen reader for esx or esxi. The

remote GUI interface has major accessibility problemms. And there is no talking or serial console install. I asked about an accessible install on

the VMWare web site and all the answers I got were lame. I ended up getting sighted assistance for the install. However, it may be possible for a blind person to do an esx/esxi install via the automatic installation tool.

In other words, you will have problems installing esx or esxi, you'll have

trouble creating virtual machines, and once you create them, they'll be difficult to use. Other than that, its fine.

In all seriousness, I have an esxi machine at home. I built it specifically to learn about VMWare esx and esxi. I had to get help with the install but

if I had it to do over again, I would try the automatic install feature. I

also spent a lot of time learning how to create virtual machines. The remote GUI is not totally impossible to navigate with jaws. But there are parts of it that are very, very difficult. Maybe if you used it every day you could

get to be proficient enough to be productive but I doubt it. I manage the virtual machines on my esxi server via editing the text config files themselves. Once you have the virtual machine up and running, you will have to operate it remotely. The VMWare people would say that that's the whole point of esx and esxi. Esx and esxi are for servers off in the cloud somewhere. If you want a desktop machine, use Workstation. But while operating a machine remotely is easy in linux, it is somewhat of a greater

challenge in Windows. Of course, maybe you already do a lot of remote Windows system administration and that won't be a problem for you. But I don't know how you get your accessibility tools installed on a Windows virtual machine in order to access it remotely.

The way I did it was to configured a USB port on the virtual machine and then plugged a USB headset into the host. That gave me speech on the virtual machine. So I was operating the virtual machine remotely but the headset was physically connected to the host. The only reason I was able to do that was that my remote machine was not very remote. It was only about 5 feet from the esxi host. I am not sure if that makes sense. If you want a clearer explanation, let me know.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Moore" <bmoore@screenreview.org> To: "Blind sysadmins list" <blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:01 AM Subject: [Blind-sysadmins] any show stoppers

HI all. applying for this job. IN particular, I am interested in people's thoughts about working in environments with vmware esx any other show stoppers? HELP DESK SUPERVISOR/SENIOR TECHNICAL ANALYST Permanent - Full-Time Annual Salary: $73,180 -$89,035 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is seeking a Help Desk Supervisor/Senior Technical Analyst. The successful candidate will be responsible for supervising the day-to-day operations of the helpdesk and helpdesk staff; identifying, researching, and resolving complex technical problems; documenting, tracking and monitoring problems to ensure resolution in a timely manner; applying updates and patches to server software, hardware and network devices; providing support for both physical and virtual computing environments; and writing new and maintaining existing support documentation. The successful candidate will have: a minimum three year post secondary computing degree/diploma (or equivalent technical certifications and work experience); must possess a well-rounded business background with a broad understanding of computer and network systems, operations, applications, operating systems and security; previous supervision/leadership experience required; minimum three years experience with VMware ESX 3.5 and above, including Virtual Center, HA, DRS, VMotion, Snapshots, Converter Enterprise and VCB; in-depth knowledge and experience with Active Directory, Windows 2003/2008 Server, IIS, SQL, GPO, Terminal Services and/or Citrix XenApp; XP and Windows 7 desktop imaging, deployment, and setup; experience administering and supporting Cisco switches, routers, firewalls; experience with backup and recovery strategies, disaster recovery planning, implementation and testing; full understanding of the IP protocol stack and its related services; in-depth knowledge of server hardware, RAID technologies and Storage Area Networks; ability to absorb and retain information quickly and adept at reading, writing, and interpreting technical documentation and procedure manuals; highly self-motivated and directed with proven problem-solving abilities; strong analytical, organization, multitasking, and prioritizing skills with thorough and acute attention to detail; ability to express complex technical concepts effectively, both verbally and written, to both technical and non-technical agency staff with proven presentation and facilitation skills. cont'd on page 2. 2 The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton is a large agency of approximately 350 employees which offers an innovative and progressive work environment. Interested applicants should submit a current resume quoting file #17/12 by April 9, 2012: Kelly Oates Administrative Assistant Human Resources Department The Children's Aid Society of Hamilton PO Box 1170, Depot 1, Hamilton, ON L8N 4B9 E-mail: koates@hamiltoncas.com Fax: 905-522-1089 WE ARE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins _______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

Dear users and developers, I would like to introduce You The Trisquel Linux live distribution, which is based on The best available stable versions of Debian and Ubuntu Linux. This distribution is including only free software, can be installed to The USB external harddrive and is coming with 50 languages preinstalled. You can run it from A DVD, You can run it from VMware player or froe Virtualbox. The distribution is user friendly and updates are stored in The specific repository. Adobe flash player can be installed from .deb package, i have one old but still usable player with .deb extension, so i can run it and use it with Firefox. Try this live distribution and You will know, that very probably, this distribution will replace The Vinux, which is very probably not developed for several months. You can get Trisquel from this direct link. http://mirror.fsf.org/trisquel-images/trisquel_5.0-i18n_i686.iso Enjoy and You can also experiment with antivirus tools from this live environment. AVG is not working with PCLINUX OS, some AVG specific service can not be initialized, so i will try this antivirus rather from some Debian based distribution, eventhough remastering is more difficult. With kindness regards. Mgr. Janusz Chmiel

Dear sir, But i can not find this new release by using this link. http://vinuxproject.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=34 From which WEB site did You get this new Vinux release please? Thank You very much for Yours answer.

Well, actually, it's ma'am, but I like being called Jackie best. On 4/9/12, mike <mstopka@jmshosting.us> wrote:

its under their daily images it is in beta as of right now. The vinux project switched to a different way of building their distro so its taken a while longer.

-----Original Message----- From: blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org [mailto:blind-sysadmins-bounces@lists.hodgsonfamily.org] On Behalf Of Mgr. Janusz Chmiel Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 2:43 PM To: Blind sysadmins list Subject: Re: [Blind-sysadmins] Trisquel 5.0 with Orca support out of The box is here

Dear sir, But i can not find this new release by using this link.

http://vinuxproject.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Item id=34

From which WEB site did You get this new Vinux release please? Thank You very much for Yours answer.

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

-- Blame the computer--why not? It can't defend itself & occasionally might even be the culprit Jackie McBride Ask Me Computer Questions at: www.pcinquirer.com Jaws Scripting training materials: www.screenreaderscripting.com homePage: www.abletec.serverheaven.net

Actually a new Vinux version was just released based on Precise. On 4/9/12, Mgr. Janusz Chmiel <chmiel@deep.cz> wrote:

Dear users and developers, I would like to introduce You The Trisquel Linux live distribution, which is based on The best available stable versions of Debian and Ubuntu Linux. This distribution is including only free software, can be installed to The USB external harddrive and is coming with 50 languages preinstalled. You can run it from A DVD, You can run it from VMware player or froe Virtualbox.

The distribution is user friendly and updates are stored in The specific repository.

Adobe flash player can be installed from .deb package, i have one old but still usable player with .deb extension, so i can run it and use it with Firefox.

Try this live distribution and You will know, that very probably, this distribution will replace The Vinux, which is very probably not developed for several months.

You can get Trisquel from this direct link.

http://mirror.fsf.org/trisquel-images/trisquel_5.0-i18n_i686.iso

Enjoy and You can also experiment with antivirus tools from this live environment.

AVG is not working with PCLINUX OS, some AVG specific service can not be initialized, so i will try this antivirus rather from some Debian based distribution, eventhough remastering is more difficult.

With kindness regards. Mgr. Janusz Chmiel

_______________________________________________ Blind-sysadmins mailing list Blind-sysadmins@lists.hodgsonfamily.org http://lists.hodgsonfamily.org/listinfo/blind-sysadmins

-- Blame the computer--why not? It can't defend itself & occasionally might even be the culprit Jackie McBride Ask Me Computer Questions at: www.pcinquirer.com Jaws Scripting training materials: www.screenreaderscripting.com homePage: www.abletec.serverheaven.net