VMUG Advantage and Broadcom account linking problems?

[Greg_E]

Anyone here with a VMUG Advantage account tied to any kind of personal email address that has been successful in getting any of the VMware entitlements connected?

We are supposed to have access to the VCF on demand training, and also the ability to update our labs, I've been jumping through hoops for the last two weeks trying to get things to link, and I'm still not there yet.

On the flip side, Nutanix had no issues with the most recent paid email address that I used. Downloaded and enrolled in one of their on demand courses.

Obviously, Broadcom wants to push everyone into getting a job first, and learning the products only if you are one of the special people designated to work on their systems. Yes the VMUG people have been great, but there is only so much they can do as they need to work through a Bcom rep the same as a corporate client.

This is making me rethink trying to get certified to open some doors, maybe I should be concentrating on XCP-ng and Nutanix. This mess with Broadcom is really getting on my nerves, and the management don't seem to really care. I think the VMware people are trying to relax things, a good sign is the recent announcement that you can get a limited ESXi for free again, but the rest of the process is just not working!

 

[DavidWJohnston]

I don't have VMUG anymore (I decided not to renew) but when I did I spoke with a Broadcom support person who said an email address with one of these "problems" violates the terms of service:

- Use of a public provider (like gmail)
- Is not the individual's first and last name (ex. Must be: Firstname.Lastname@company.com)
- Looks like a group address (ex. LicenseAdmin@company.com)

I informed the person there is an exception for personal-use accounts in the terms, but he would not accept this and kept persistently using the phrase "shared mailbox" after I offered multiple corrective statements to the contrary. I suspect something similar may be happening with your account.

In my case I own a .com domain for my lab so I used the Brevo free SMTP service to create a mailbox matching the requirements, and I was able to get a Broadcom account, but I have since closed it out.

I hope this helps, I know it's a pain, good luck.

 

[Greg_E]

The funny thing is that with two different webcalls, the VMware reps said that gmail was still working, but that it was soon to be closed. If you were in there, they weren't going to purge your name, but no new users.

I did use Greg@xxx.com for my new account, and I can do certain things, I think my entitlement just hasn't migrated or is stuck somewhere.

Broadcom really does know how to wreck something good!

 

[nabsltd]

I did use Greg@xxx.com for my new account, and I can do certain things, I think my entitlement just hasn't migrated or is stuck somewhere.

I have had my own domain and e-mail for 20 years now, and one thing I learned was to never give out my personal e-mail address to any company. So, I create an e-mail alias for every company I deal with, and it forwards to my inbox.

This means my login to vmware was vmware@my.domain. It transferred over to Broadcom with no issue, so my username there is still vmware@my.domain.

So, it looks like it's "anything goes" if your VMware account got migrated to Broadcom, but they are cracking down for new accounts. Note that the last place I worked used a username scheme that would probably not be allowed by Broadcom. The left hand side was <Firstname><Lastname><Last4OfEmployeeID>. With the numbers added, it looked a lot like many free e-mail services, but we did it to avoid collisions. When I started there, we already had 2 collisions on First+Last, and 2 more got added while I worked there.

 

[Greg_E]

My accounts are still f'ed, I guess I'll have to send yet another email to VMUG and see what can be done, but I'm to the point where this is clearly a breach of contract. I can no longer update a licensed product and I know there is a patch needed due to security vulnerability.

 

[Greg_E]

OK, just finished a VMUG Townhall, things were certainly more clear this time as I asked exactly what we get... You get nothing if you haven't passed a certification. No on demand training, no updates to your licensed lab, no nothing! Have a good day with that rug pull everyone!

I see no real value in VMUG anymore, if you don't/can't go to conferences it just costs you more for your licenses. Advantage is $200, exam is discounted to $125, that $325 total. Now if you just find training, and pass VCF, you get your licenses for 3 years, 1 year for VVF. The cert costs $250 and training can be requested (on demand only) from Broadcom and it appears I was able to get one course for free so far. So where is the "Advantage" now.

Yes very salty, hate rug pulls and there are a lot going on these days! There were a few people in the chat that were also salty and we didn't exactly hold back. F'ing Broadcom! Good luck attracting the new users to replace the grey beards when they retire, they even mentioned that there is a huge lack of VCF trained people (tell me it ain't so ), how do we get those trained people?

"Broadcom, where good products go to die a slow death."