VMware Hackathon 2024 Project

The VMware Code Hackathon is a special event that runs alongside VMware Explore. Since 2016, I’ve been fortunate to participate in both the main event and hackathon most years. My efforts for advocating for the event finally paid off and we had a 4 member team from soulTec.

Team onlyGPT @ Hackathon 2024

The hackathon took place at the Cahoot Coworking space, similar to the previous year. Despite being advertised at VMware Explore, attendance was notably lower compared to previous years. Unlike 2023’s AI focus, this year’s projects returned to core infrastructure improvements, with teams working on VCF bringup processes, Ansible implementations, and PowerCLI enhancements.

Our team, aptly named “onlyGPT,” consisted of four members:

• Yannick Gerber
• Marco Mattei
• Daniel Stadelmann
• Myself

Our team name emerged from a Slack discussion, reflecting our common practice of consulting generative AI for guidance.

The project

Objective

Enhance an existing PowerCLI script that manages vSphere alerts configuration using CSV files and implements priority-based actions.

Background

The project originated from a customer requirement where vSphere alerts needed to email a general mailbox. This system enabled on-call engineers to track and address environmental issues efficiently before their shift handover.

Challenge

The existing script had a significant limitation: it relied on a static CSV file based on vSphere 6.7. With alerts evolving and being renamed across versions, the script needed adaptation for new alert types.

Project Scope

1.  Develop functionality to read default alerts
2. Compare and match priorities with existing CSV data
3. implement persistent storage for future csv reuse

Implementation

While we couldn’t complete the functionality during the hackathon presentation (demonstrating error messages from non-existent alert configurations), we persevered and achieved success the following day. The final code is available at:

https://github.com/soultecag/explore-hackathon-2024

The enhanced script now offers two options:

• Process the existing CSV (original functionality)
• Query new alerts first and use the updated CSV as the source

Results

Our team secured second place, a proud accomplishment that highlighted the value of collaborative teamwork. The experience was particularly meaningful as it provided a rare opportunity for all four team members to work together intensively.

Conclusion

Despite not meeting our initial timeline, the event proved to be an invaluable experience. We strongly recommend participation in future VMware Explore European hackathons, pending their continuation.