easteregg

Easter eggs are hidden in various media elements, including movies, video games, software, and even websites, and Nutanix is no exception.

These little references are often intentionally placed by creators to entertain curious and observant users. They can take the form of cultural references, humorous winks, secret messages, or new features that can only be accessed through specific methods.

Easter eggs have become something of a tradition in the digital world, increasing fan engagement and creating a special connection between creators and their audience.

The “2048” game

The game 2048 is a popular puzzle game played on a 4×4 grid. The goal is to merge tiles of the same value to reach the 2048 tile. The arrow keys on the keyboard move the tiles in the four directions. Each move reveals a new tile of value 2 or 4. The game ends when no more moves are possible.

Nutanix integrates the game 2048 into its Prism Element and Prism Central consoles, offering you a fun break while using the platform. To access this game, follow these steps:

Log in to your Prism Element or Prism Central interface via your web browser and, in the upper right corner of the interface, click on your username to drop down the menu.

In the drop-down menu, choose the option titled “Nothing to do?”:

Once the option is selected, the 2048 game will open in a new window, ready to be played!

If you don’t see the “Nothing To Do?” option in the menu, it’s possible that your administrator has disabled it. To check this setting, go to Console Settings, then Appearance, and then User Interface Settings. Make sure the box to enable the game is checked.

NetHack

Nethack is an iconic game in geek culture, known for its text-based gameplay and numerous easter eggs and cultural references. Dragons are powerful creatures in this game, and the ASCII drawings are often a tribute to this type of game.

The NetHack reference is hidden in Nutanix Move. To view it, connect via SSH to the Move VM and type the following command:

cat /opt/xtract-vm/bin/dragon.txt

And this is what you will have on the screen!

Advanced customization options

You can access advanced customization options through a hidden shortcut that will allow you to customize your cluster’s login page!

To access it, connect to your cluster, go to the settings and then to the “UI Settings” section. Then, click on “UI Settings” while holding down the “Alt” key on your keyboard:

You will then have more options for customizing the login interface:

The Lord of the Rings

Among the services that allow you to run your cluster, there are 2 that are a direct reference to Aragorn’s sword in Tolkien’s work, the Lord of the Rings. I am obviously talking about Anduril, Flame of the West, forged with the fragments of Narsil.

Anduril and Narsil are 2 Nutanix services that you can find when you type the command “cluster status” on one of your CVMs:

Stargate

Still among the Nutanix services, we can find a reference to the cult film and series of the same name: Stargate.

To display it, always the same command: cluster status from a CVM:

Star Trek

Among the other easter eggs hidden in Nutanix, we can find a reference to the Star Trek universe with the Uhura service which is a reference to Nyota Uhura, a lieutenant of the USS Enterprise!