My Antigravity / VSCode Extensions

While I don’t consider myself a power user or a professional software developer, I rely on Visual Studio Code (VSCode), and now more recently, Google’s Antigravity, on an almost daily basis. Over time, it has become my preferred code editor for everything from quickly testing a simple one-liner to building more advanced scripts and lightweight tools designed to automate repetitive tasks. Its speed, flexibility, and massive extension ecosystem make it an easy choice for both beginners and experienced users alike.

I use VSCode across a variety of workflows, including scripting, configuration management, infrastructure work, and general text editing. Whether I’m working with PowerShell, Python, YAML, or configuration files for automation platforms, VSCode consistently provides a clean, efficient, and customizable environment that helps me stay productive without getting in the way.

More recently, I’ve started experimenting with home automation, which naturally led me to install the Arduino IDE and explore microcontroller development. While those tools are useful in their own right, this post is intentionally focused on VSCode and the specific extensions I install every time I set up a new environment. These extensions help transform a basic editor into a powerful, AI-assisted development and automation platform.

One of the first things I enabled when getting started was the built-in AI functionality through GitHub Copilot. Copilot quickly became an invaluable companion, especially for writing boilerplate code, exploring unfamiliar languages, and speeding up common tasks. Even as a non-professional developer, having AI assistance directly inside the editor significantly lowers the friction of learning, experimenting, and building.

After installing VSCode, my setup process usually follows a simple and repeatable pattern. First, I sign in to VSCode using my GitHub account, which allows settings, extensions, and preferences to sync automatically across machines. This makes it incredibly easy to move between systems or rebuild a workstation without starting from scratch.

Once signed in, I open the Extensions panel and begin installing the core VSCode extensions that support my day-to-day workflow. These extensions cover everything from programming languages and infrastructure tools to visual enhancements that make code easier to read and maintain. The result is a highly personalized VSCode setup that feels lightweight, powerful, and perfectly suited to automation, scripting, and experimentation.

In the sections below, I’ll outline the Visual Studio Code extensions I rely on most, along with why each one earns a permanent spot in my editor.


Once signed in, enter Ctrl+Shift+X to launch Extensions and search for the following

NameExtensionIDLink
Github Copilot ChatGitHub.copilot-chathttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GitHub.copilot-chat
Github CopilotGitHub.copilothttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=GitHub.copilot
Powershell (v7)ms-vscode.powershellhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.PowerShell
Pythonms-python.pythonhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-python.python
Python Extension Packdonjayamanne.python-extension-packhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=donjayamanne.python-extension-pack
Rainbow CSVmechatroner.rainbow-csvhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mechatroner.rainbow-csv
indent-rainbowoderwat.indent-rainbowhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=oderwat.indent-rainbow
Gogolang.gohttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=golang.Go
YAMLredhat.vscode-yamlhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=redhat.vscode-yaml
Ansibleredhat.ansiblehttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=redhat.ansible
ansible-vaultdhoeric.ansible-vaulthttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=dhoeric.ansible-vault
Hashicorp Terraformhashicorp.terraformhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=HashiCorp.terraform
Hashicorp-HCLHashiCorp.HCLhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=HashiCorp.HCL
Hasicorp-Vaultowenfarrell.vscode-vaulthttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=owenfarrell.vscode-vault
Terraform4ops.terraformhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=4ops.terraform
Packer4ops.packerhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=4ops.packer
GitLenseamodio.gitlenshttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=eamodio.gitlens
PlatformIO IDEplatformio.platformio-idehttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=platformio.platformio-ide
ESP-IDF (v6) espressif.esp-idf-extensionhttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=espressif.esp-idf-extension
CMake Toolsms-vscode.cmake-toolshttps://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cmake-tools
Docker (ms-azuretools)ms-azuretools.vscode-dockerhttps://open-vsx.org/vscode/item?itemName=ms-azuretools.vscode-docker

Install LibreNMS on CentOS 7 Minimal

It has been a very long time since my last post. This one was inspired by the lack of fully documented installs online, outlining each and every step, with a visual, for those who learn using images.

I have also included the ever-populer oxidized in this guide, as this for me personally, was really tricky to get operational.

Continue reading Install LibreNMS on CentOS 7 Minimal →

Forward vCenter Server Appliance Log Files to Remote Syslog Server

A few days ago I was required to obtain some audit logs from our SIEM system (Sumologic) and from vCenter and I noticed that our vCenter logs weren’t going in to Sumologic and that the log files required for SSO auditing or the VPXD log (where, among other things, stipulates what client was used by who to connect) were rotating every 7 days. This was not good. So I decided what better time than now to forward vCenter syslogs to Sumologic.

It was a little more complex than just enabling syslog through appliance management as by default, this does not collect the SSO logs, like:

  • /var/log/vmware/sso/ssoAdminServer.log – Auditing SSO logins
  • /var/log/vmware/sso/vmware-identity-sts.log – Auditing SSO user changes

I found this out by scouring the internet and piecing little pieces together and eventually, creating a rock solid syslog source for our vCenter Servers.

Please note: This is not an officially supported configuration by VMware and for larger environments, this could potentially have an impact on the vCenter Server service, so please take caution in the logs you decide to forward. And as always, test this in a lab first.

I also want to mention that this needs to be done on each VCSA instance, i.e. if you have a vCenter with an External PSC, this would need to be done on both servers, in order to collect all the logs.

So, lets begin:

Continue reading Forward vCenter Server Appliance Log Files to Remote Syslog Server →

Install Powershell and PowerCLI in Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver)

A little while back I spoke about installing an unsupported version of Powershell in 18.04. Since the release of of Powershell 6.1.0-preview.2, it is now supported. Well, kind of. The release is still in preview, but hey, it natively installs at least.

What I can say about my experiences though is while I thoroughly enjoyed running on Ubuntu, I have decided to go back to windows as my primary OS due to certain incompatibilities, for example, lack of Webex (something we use VERY often at my company), terrible screen scaling as my laptop is attached to a doc with 2 1080p monitors and a 4k laptop monitor. Also, no native, freemium / open source alternative to outlook. I was looking at an all in one compatibility instead of separate apps to do little parts of something Outlook can do all in one, like calendar, contact management etc. I found an app called “MailSpring” which came REALLY close, but just didn’t cut it. Whilst I wouldn’t mind purchasing it, I was not too keen on the $8/m. Yeah, call me cheap, but they really should allow a “Pay Once” model.

So, lets begin:

Continue reading Install Powershell and PowerCLI in Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) →

Install Powershell and PowerCLI in Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) – Unsupported Workaround

EDIT: This was an unsupported work around and now 18.04 is officially supported, you can read my post about it here: Install Powershell and PowerCLI in Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver)

Over the last few weeks, due to the increased compatibility and requirements for me to be using a Linux distro, I have decided to make a transition over to Linux (specifically Ubuntu) and one of the requirements for this process was the ability to install Powershell as I frequently use PowerCLI. However, It’s not as simple as an apt-get install cmdlet. I am by no means a developer or coder, but as you might know, I do create some scripts or tools now and again.

So, as part of this trial transition (who knows, might go back to windows – ghast!), I have managed to install Powershell and PowerCLI. This guide is for 18.04 but it uses 17.04 libraries as 18.04 is not official supported, yet. But it does work.

So, lets begin:

Continue reading Install Powershell and PowerCLI in Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) – Unsupported Workaround →

Upgrading VCSA 6.5u1 to 6.7

Murphy’s Law, just as I upgrade to  6.5u1, 6.7 gets released. So, I am going to do an upgrade in my lab so I can start playing around with all the cool new features.

Before moving on, it is HIGHLY recommended you read through the following VMware articles:

Also, as a prerequisite, and mentioned in the 6.0u3 to 6.5u1 upgrade,  I recommend moving all systems to a single host, disabling DRS (or setting it to manual) and performing a snapshot of the VMs.

The upgrade path also seems identical in the sense that you need to do ALL PSCs FIRST then do the vCenter. But you might have additional VMware systems, so please follow the Update sequence for vSphere 6.7 and its compatible VMware products (53710) article.

Continue reading Upgrading VCSA 6.5u1 to 6.7 →

Upgrading VCSA from 6.0u3 to 6.5u1

After about 6 months of planning and preparing for our VCSA upgrade, we had to completely revamp our upgrade path.  In our environment, we use Netapp, and along with Netapp comes some extension like Virtual Storage Console (VSC) and now, the new Netapp Snapcenter.

I spent a lot of my time planning the deployment for an upgrade of our environment which included a upgrade of VSC from 6.2.1 to 7.0 and the install of SnapCenter 3.0, not wait, 3.1, no wait 4.0.

Yes, that’s right, SnapCenter released 2 version in the time of my upgrade planning and it still couldn’t to what needed it to do, mainly cross-domain authentication, so, we had a little shout at our account manager who confirmed cross-domain authentication will be available in August 2018, so lets see what happens. So, this process is still required, however, this made the upgrade a lot easier.

Continue reading Upgrading VCSA from 6.0u3 to 6.5u1 →

Installing vCenter with External Platform Services Controller

Recently the company I work for has upgraded all their VMware ESXi licenses to Enterprise Plus and with great licenses come great configurations. So, I’ve decided to install a fresh install of vCenter 6.5 in a lab with a couple of ESXi hosts attached so I can start configuring the awesomeness like distributed switches (which will be documented too). I’ve always wanted to play with this, but licensing was an issue.

This is for a new install of vCenter, using the UI. I included a very brief CLI deployment too. I will also include an upgrade vCenter post to show the upgrade procedure from 6.0 to 6.5 (and the issues faced with that).

Continue reading Installing vCenter with External Platform Services Controller →

Adding VMKernel ports to multiple hosts using PowerCLI

So, yesterday I was asked to quickly put together a script to add VMkernel ports to Multiple ESXi hosts. I have a script to add VM Port groups to multiple host, and this is easy. But the issue with the VMkernel ports is that they require a unique IP address.

So I put together the following CSV and Script

CSV File which includes the below information. Obviously the fields will be changed to suit your network


Continue reading Adding VMKernel ports to multiple hosts using PowerCLI →

Configuring NFS networking for a nested ESXi VM

I have just begun planning and building a lab for my ESXi / vSphere environment so that I can do a upgrade of our vSphere environment (more to come on this process), but I got stuck with an issue for NFS storage. The issue was that I could not mount the datastores on the nested ESXi host, I was not able to find any clear information quickly on the web, so I decided to do a “settings” process here.

A brief background of the environment:

  • Networking: Cisco 3850, with Trunk VLAN configured.
  • Storage: NetApp cDOT with NFS volumes
  • ESXi Version: 6.0U3

The important changes are in bold below and the reasoning is VERY well outlined in this “ancient”, yet 100% valid post by William Lam: Why is Promiscuous Mode Forged?

Continue reading Configuring NFS networking for a nested ESXi VM →