The Official VCP5 Certification Guide

Bill Ferguson, VCI5, VCP5, CCSI, and MCT has been in the computer industry for more than 20 years. Originally in technical sales and IT consulting with Sprint, he made his transition to Certified Technical Trainer in 1997 with ExecuTrain. He now runs his own company, Parallel Connections, as an independent contractor and consultant based in Birmingham, Alabama, working worldwide for most of the national training companies and some regional training companies. In addition, he has written and produced many technical training videos and books. Bill’s aspiration is as follows: “My job is to understand the material so well that I can make it easier for others to learn than it was for me to learn. Toward that end, I strive to provide an effective learning environment whether in person, in print, or online.”

    About the Author xix

    Dedication xx

    Acknowlegments xxi

    About the Reviewers xxii

    Introduction xxiii

Chapter 1 Planning, Installing, Configuring, and Upgrading vCenter Server and VMware ESXi 3

    “Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 3

    Installing and Configuring vCenter Server 6

        Identifying Available vSphere and vCenter Server Editions 6

        Deploying the vCenter Appliance 9

        Installing vCenter Server into a Virtual Machine 14

        Sizing the vCenter Server Database 17

        Installing Additional vCenter Server Components 17

    Installing/Removing vSphere Client Plug-Ins 18

        Enabling/Disabling vSphere Client Plug-Ins 19

        Licensing vCenter Server 19

        Determining Availability Requirements for vCenter Server in a

        Given vSphere Implementation 21

        Determining Use Cases for vSphere Client and Web Client 22

    Installing and Configuring VMware ESXi 22

        Performing an Interactive Installation of ESXi 22

        Deploying an ESXi Host Using Auto Deploy 24

        Configuring NTP on an ESXi Host 26

        Configuring DNS and Routing on an ESXi Host 27

        Enabling/Configuring/Disabling Hyperthreading 27

        Enabling/Sizing/Disabling Memory Compression Cache 28

        Licensing an ESXi Host 30

    Planning and Performing Upgrades of vCenter Server and VMware ESXi 31

        Identifying Upgrade Requirements for ESXi Hosts 31

        Identifying Steps Required to Upgrade a vSphere Implementation 32

        Upgrading a vSphere Distributed Switch 33

        Upgrading from VMFS3 to VMFS5 34

        Upgrading VMware Tools 34

        Upgrading Virtual Machine Hardware 37

        Upgrading an ESXi Host using vCenter Update Manager 39

        Determining Whether an In-Place Upgrade Is Appropriate in a Given Upgrade Scenario 42

    Securing vCenter Server and ESXi 43

        Identifying Common vCenter Server Privileges and Roles 43

        System Roles 44

        Sample Roles 44

        Custom Roles 45

        Describing How Permissions are Applied and Inherited in vCenter Server 45

        Example 1: Permissions That Apply Directly to an Object Supersede Those That Are Inherited 46

        Example 2: If a User Is a Member of More Multiple Groups, the User Is Assigned the Union of the Privileges for Each Group 46

        Example 3: User/Role Pairings Applied Directly to an Object Supersede User/ Role Pairings That Are Inherited 47

        Example 4: Permissions That Are Applied Directly to a User Supersede Permissions That Are Inherited Through Group Membership 48

        Configuring and Administering the ESXi Firewall 49

        Enabling Lockdown Mode 50

        Configuring Network Security Policies 51

        Promiscuous Mode 52

        MAC Address Changes 53

        Forged Transmits 53

        Viewing/Sorting/Exporting User and Group Lists 54

        Adding/Modifying/Removing Permissions for Users and Groups on vCenter Inventory Objects 54

        Creating/Cloning/Editing vCenter Server Roles 55

        Creating Roles 55

        Cloning Roles 56

        Editing Roles 59

        Adding an ESXi Host to a Directory Service 60

        Applying Permissions to ESXi Hosts Using Host Profiles 62

        Determining the Appropriate Set of Privileges for Common Tasks in vCenter Server 62

    Identifying vSphere Architecture and Solutions 62

        Identifying Available vSphere Editions and Features 63

                Explaining ESXi and vCenter Server Architectures 63

        Explaining Private/Public/Hybrid Cloud Concepts 64

        Determining the Appropriate vSphere Edition Based on Customer Requirements 66

    Summary 67

Chapter 2 Planning and Configuring vSphere Networking 73

    “Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 73

    Configuring vSphere Standard Switches 76

        Identifying vSphere Standard Switch (vSS) Capabilities 76

        Creating / Deleting a vSphere Standard Switch 77

        Deleting a vSphere Standard Switch 81

        Adding / Configuring / Removing vmnics on a vSphere Standard Switch 82

        Configuring VMkernel Ports for Network Services 88

        Adding / Editing / Removing Port Groups on a vSphere Standard Switch 90

        Determining Use Cases for a vSphere Standard Switch 94

    Configuring vSphere Distributed Switches 94

        Identifying vSphere Distributed Switch Capabilities 95

        Creating/Deleting a vSphere Distributed Switch 97

        Deleting a vDS 100

        Adding/Removing ESXi Hosts from a vSphere Distributed Switch 100

        Adding/Configuring/Removing dvPort Groups 104

        Adding/Removing Uplink Adapters to dvUplink Groups 108

        Creating/Configuring/Removing Virtual Adapters 111

        Migrating Virtual Adapters to/from a vSphere Standard Switch 117

        Migrating Virtual Machines to/from a vSphere Distributed Switch 119

        Determining Use Cases for a vSphere Distributed Switch 123

    Configuring vSS and vDS Policies 124

        Identifying Common vSS and vDS policies 124

        Configuring dvPort Group Blocking Policies 132

        Configuring Load Balancing and Failover Policies 133

        Load Balancing 134

        Network Failover Detection 134

        Notify Switches 135

        Failback 135

        Configuring VLAN Settings 137

        Configuring VLAN Policy Settings on a VDS 139

        Configuring VLAN Trunking Policies on a VDS 140

        Configuring Private VLAN Policy Settings on a vDS 140

        Configuring Traffic Shaping Policies 142

        Traffic Shaping Policies for vSphere Standard Switches 143

        Traffic Shaping Policies for vSphere Distributed Switches 144

        Enabling TCP Segmentation Offload support for a Virtual Machine 145

        Enabling Jumbo Frames Support on Appropriate Components 147

        Enabling Jumbo Frames for VMkernel Interface on a vSS 147

        Enabling Jumbo Frames on a vDS 148

        Enabling Jumbo Frame Support on Virtual Machines 149

        Determining Appropriate VLAN Configuration for a vSphere Implementation 149

    Summary 151

Chapter 3 Planning and Configuring vSphere Storage 159

    “Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 159

    Configuring Shared Storage for vSphere 162

        Identifying Storage Adapters and Devices 162

        Fibre Channel 163

        FCOE 163

        iSCSI 164

        NAS 164

        Identifying Storage Naming Conventions 164

        Storage Naming Conventions for Local and SAN 165

        Identifying Hardware/Dependent Hardware/Software iSCSI Initiator Requirements 166

        Comparing and Contrasting Array Thin Provisioning and Virtual Disk Thin Provisioning 168

        Array Thin Provisioning 168

        Virtual Disk Thin Provisioning 169

        Describing Zoning and LUN Masking Practices 170

        Zoning 171

        Masking 172

        Scanning/Rescanning Storage 172

        Identifying Use Cases for FCOE 173

        Creating an NFS Share for Use with vSphere 174

        Connecting to a NAS Device 175

        Enabling/Configuring/Disabling vCenter Server Storage Filters 177

        Configuring/Editing Hardware/Dependent Hardware Adapters 179

        Enabling/Disabling Software iSCSI Initiator Settings 180

        Configuring iSCSI Port Binding 181

        Enabling/Configuring/Disabling iSCSI CHAP 183

        Determining Use Cases for Hardware/Dependent Hardware/Software iSCSI Initiator 185

        Determining Use Cases for and Configuring Array Thin Provisioning 186

    Configuring the Storage Virtual Appliance for vSphere 186

        Defining the VSA Architecture 187

        Configuring ESXi Hosts as VSA Hosts 188

        Configuring the Storage Network for the VSA 189

        Deploying/Configuring the VSA Manager 189

        Administering VSA Storage Resources 190

        Administering VSA Clusters 191

        Administering VSA Datastores 191

        Administering VSA Cluster Membership 191

        Determining Use Case for Deploying the VSA 192

        Determining Appropriate ESXi Host Resources for the VSA 192

    Creating and Configuring VMFS and NFS Datastores 193

        Identifying VMFS and NFS Datastore Properties 193

        Identifying VMFS-5 Capabilities 195

        Creating/Renaming/Deleting/Unmounting a VMFS Datastore 195

        Mounting/Unmounting an NFS Datastore 205

        Extending/Expanding VMFS Datastores 209

        Extending VMFS Datastores 209

        Expanding VMFS Datastores 213

        Upgrading a VMFS-3 Datastore to VMFS-5 218

        Placing a VMFS Datastore in Maintenance Mode 220

        Selecting the Preferred Path for a VMFS Datastore 221

        Disabling a Path to a VMFS Datastore 223

        Determining Use Cases for Multiple VMFS and NFS Datastores 224

        Determining Appropriate Path Selection Policy for a VMFS Datastore 224

    Summary 225

Chapter 4 Deploying and Administering Virtual Machine and vApps 235

    “Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 235

    Creating and Deploying Virtual Machines 238

        Identifying Capabilities for Virtual Machine Hardware Versions 238

        Identifying VMware Tools Device Drivers 240

        Identifying Methods to Access and Use Virtual Machine Console 240

        Identifying Virtual Machine Storage Resources 242

        Placing Virtual Machines in Selected ESXi Hosts/Clusters/Resource Pools 243

        Configuring and Deploying a Guest OS Into a New Virtual Machine 243

        Creating/Converting Thin/Thick Provisioned Virtual Disks 245

        Configuring Disk Shares 246

        Installing/Upgrading/Updating VMware Tools 249

        Configuring Virtual Machine Time Synchronization 251

        Converting a Physical Machine Using VMware Converter 252

        Importing a Supported Virtual Machine Source Using Vmware Converter 255

        Modifying Virtual Hardware Settings Using VMware Standalone Converter 256

        Configuring/Modifying Virtual CPU and Memory Resources According to OS and Application Requirements 256

        Configuring and Modifying Virtual Machine CPU 257

        Configuring and Modifying Virtual Machine Memory 258

        Configuring/Modifying Virtual NIC Adapter and Connecting Virtual Machines to Appropriate Network Resources 260

        Determining Appropriate Datastore Locations for Virtual Machines Based on Application Workloads 261

    Creating and Deploying vApps 262

        Identifying vApp Settings 262

        Options 262

        Start Order 266

        vServices 267

        Creating/Cloning/Exporting a vApp 267

        Adding Objects to an Existing vApp 274

        Editing vApp Settings 274

        Configuring IP Pools 274

        Suspending/Resuming a vApp 276

        Determining When a Tiered Application Should Be Deployed as a vApp 276

    Managing Virtual Machine Clones and Templates 277

        Identifying the vCenter Server, Managed ESXi Hosts, and Virtual Machine Maximums 278

        Identifying Cloning and Template Options 280

        Cloning an Existing Virtual Machine 281

        Creating a Template from an Existing Virtual Machine 282

        Deploying a Virtual Machine from a Template 285

        Updating Existing Virtual Machine Templates 287

        Deploying Virtual Appliances and/or vApps from an OVF Template 290

        Importing and /or Exporting an OVF Template 293

        Determining the Appropriate Development Methodology for a Given Virtual Machine Application 295

    Administering Virtual Machines and vApps 295

        Identifying Files Used by Virtual Machines 295

        Identifying Locations for Virtual Machine Configuration Files and Virtual Disks 297

        Identifying Common Practices for Securing Virtual Machines 300

        Hot Extending a Virtual Disk 301

        Configuring Virtual Machine Options 303

        General Options 304

        vApp Options 304

        VMware Tools 305

        Power Management 306

        Advanced 306

        Configuring Virtual Machine Power Settings 307

        Configuring Virtual Machine Boot Options 308

        Configuring Virtual Machine Troubleshooting Options 309

        Assigning a Storage Policy to a VM 310

    Verifying Storage Policy Compliance for Virtual Machines 312

        Determining When an Advanced Virtual Machine Parameter is Required 312

        Adjusting Virtual Machine Resources (shares, limits and reservations) Based on Virtual Machine Workloads 313

    Summary 313

Chapter 5 Establishing and Maintaining Service Levels 323

    “Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 323

    Creating and Configuring VMware Clusters 326

        Describing DRS Virtual Machine Entitlement 326

        Creating/Deleting a DRS/HA Cluster 327

        Adding/Removing ESXi Hosts from a DRS/HA Cluster 328

        Adding or Removing Virtual Machines from a DRS/HA Cluster 334

        Configuring Storage DRS 335

        Configuring Enhanced vMotion Compatibility 340

        Monitoring a DRS/HA Cluster 342

        Configuring Migration Thresholds for DRS and Virtual Machines 342

        Configuring Automation Levels for DRS and Virtual Machines 344

        Creating VM-Host and VM-VM Affinity Rules 346

        Enabling/Disabling Host Monitoring 350

        Enabling/Configuring/Disabling Virtual Machine and Application Monitoring 351

        Enabling/Configuring/Disabling Virtual Machine Monitoring 351

        Enabling/Configuring/Disabling Application Monitoring 352

        Configuring Admission Control for HA and Virtual Machines 353

        Admission Control 354

        Admission Control Policy 354

        Determining Appropriate Failover Methodology and Required Resources for an HA Implementation 357

        Host Failures the Cluster Tolerates 357

        Percentage of Cluster Resources as Failover Spare Capacity 358

        Specify Failover Hosts 358

    Planning and Implementing VMware Fault Tolerance 358

        Identifying VMware Fault Tolerance Requirements 359

        Configuring VMware Fault Tolerance Networking 360

        Enabling/Disabling VMware Fault Tolerance on a Virtual Machine 361

        Testing an FT Configuration 362

        Determining Use Case for Enabling VMware Fault Tolerance on a Virtual Machine 362

    Creating and Administering Resource Pools 363

        Describing the Resource Pool Hierarchy 363

        Defining the Expandable Reservation Parameter 364

        Creating/Removing a Resource Pool 365

        Configuring Resource Pool Attributes 367

        Adding/Removing Virtual Machines from a Resource Pool 368

        Determining Resource Pool Requirements for a Given vSphere Implementation 368

        Evaluating Appropriate Shares, Reservations, and Limits for Resource Pool Based on Virtual Machine Workloads 368

        Cloning a vApp 369

    Migrating Virtual Machines 373

        Identifying ESXi Host and Virtual Machine Requirements for vMotion and Storage vMotion 373

        ESXi and VM Requirements for vMotion 373

        ESXi and VM Requirements for Storage vMotion 375

        Identifying Enhanced vMotion Compatibility CPU Requirements 376

        Identifying Snapshot Requirements for vMotion/Storage vMotion Migration 377

        Migrating Virtual Machines Using vMotion/Storage vMotion 378

        Migrating a VM Using vMotion 378

        Migrating a VM’s Files Using Storage vMotion 382

        Configuring Virtual Machine Swap File Location 384

        Migrating a Powered-Off or Suspended Virtual Machine 386

        Utilizing Storage vMotion Techniques 387

    Backing Up and Restoring Virtual Machines 388

        Identifying Snapshot Requirements 389

        Creating/Deleting/Consolidating Virtual Machine Snapshots 389

        Installing and Configuring VMware Data Recovery 395

        Creating a Backup Job with VMware Data Recovery 396

        Performing a Test and Live Full/File-Level Restore with Vmware Data Recovery 397

        Determining Appropriate Backup Solution for a Given vSphere Implementation 397

    Patching and Updating ESXi and Virtual Machines 398

        Identifying Patching Requirements for ESXi Hosts and Virtual Machine Hardware/Tools 398

        Creating/Editing/Removing a Host Profile from an ESXi Host 398

        Attach/Apply a Host Profile to an ESXi Host or Cluster 402

        Performing Compliance Scanning and Remediation of an ESXi Host Using Host Profiles 405

        Installing and Configuring vCenter Update Manager 406

        Configuring Patch Download Options 411

        Creating/Editing/Deleting an Update Manager Baseline 412

        Attaching an Update Manager Baseline to an ESXi Host or Cluster 415

        Scanning and Remediating ESXi Hosts and Virtual Machine Hardware/Tools Using Update Manager 416

    Summary 417

Chapter 6 Performing Basic Troubleshooting 423

    “Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 423

    Performing Basic Troubleshooting for ESXi Hosts 426

        Identifying General ESXi Host Troubleshooting Guidelines 426

        Learn How to Access Support Mode 426

        Know How to Retrieve Logs 429

        Troubleshooting Common Installation Issues 431

        Troubleshooting Boot Order 432

        Troubleshooting License Assignment 432

        Troubleshooting Plug-Ins 433

        Monitoring ESXi System Health 433

        Exporting Diagnostic Information 435

    Performing Basic vSphere Network Troubleshooting 439

        Verifying Network Configuration 440

        Verifying a Given Virtual Machine Is Configured with the Correct Network Resources 441

        Troubleshooting Virtual Switch and Port Group Configuration Issues 442

        Troubleshooting Physical Network Adapter Configuration Issues 443

        Identifying the Root Cause of a Network Issue Based on Troubleshooting Information 444

    Performing Basic vSphere Storage Troubleshooting 445

        Verifying Storage Configuration 445

        Troubleshooting Storage Contention Issues 448

        Troubleshooting Storage Over-Commitment Issues 450

        Excessive Reservations Cause Slow Host Performance 450

        Path Thrashing Causes Slow Performance 450

        Troubleshooting iSCSI Software Initiator Configuration Issues 451

        Troubleshooting Storage Reports and Storage Maps 451

        Storage Reports 451

        Storage Maps 453

        Identifying the Root Cause of a Storage Issue Based on Troubleshooting Information 454

    Performing Basic Troubleshooting for HA/DRS Clusters and vMotion/Storage vMotion 455

        Identifying HA/DRS and vMotion Requirements 455

        Verifying vMotion/Storage vMotion Configuration 456

        Verifying vMotion Configuration 456

        Verifying HA Network Configuration 457

        Verifying HA/DRS Cluster Configuration 458

        Troubleshooting HA Capacity Issues 459

        Troubleshooting HA Redundancy Issues 459

        Interpreting the DRS Resource Distributing Graph and Target/Current Host Load Deviation 460

        Troubleshooting DRS Load Imbalance Issues 462

        Troubleshooting vMotion/Storage vMotion Migration Issues 462

        Interpreting vMotion Resource Maps 463

        Identifying the Root Cause for a DRS/HA Cluster or Migration Issue Based on Troubleshooting Information 463

    Summary 465

Chapter 7 Monitoring vSphere Implementation and Managing vCenter Alarms 471

    “Do I Know This Already?” Quiz 471

    Monitoring ESXi, vCenter Server, and Virtual Machines 474

        Describing How Tasks and Events are Viewed in vCenter Server 474

        Viewing by Object Selected in Console Pane 475

        Showing Only Object Entries 476

        Filtering by Keyword 477

        Identifying Critical Performance Metrics 477

        Explaining Common Memory Metrics 478

        Explaining Common CPU Metrics 484

        Explaining Common Network Metrics 484

        Explaining Common Storage Metrics 485

        Comparing and Contrasting Overview and Advanced Charts 485

        Configuring SNMP for vCenter Server 487

        Configuring Active Directory and SMTP Settings for vCenter Server 488

        Configuring Active Directory Settings for vCenter 488

        Configuring SMTP Settings for a vCenter Server 489

        Configuring vCenter Server Logging Options 491

        Creating a Log Bundle 492

        Creating/Editing/Deleting a Scheduled Task 495

        Configuring/Viewing/Printing/Exporting Resource Maps 500

        Starting/Stopping/Verifying vCenter Service Status 503

        Starting/Stopping/Verifying ESXi Host Agent Status 505

        Configuring vCenter Server Timeout Settings 506

        Monitoring/Administering vCenter Server Connections 507

        Creating an Advanced Chart 508

        Determining Host Performance Using Resxtop and Guest Perfmon 510

        Determining Host Performance Using Resxtop 510

        Determining Host Performance Using Guest Perfmon 514

        Given Performance Data, Identifying the Affected vSphere Resource 514

    Creating and Administering vCenter Server Alarms 515

        Listing vCenter Default Utilization Alarms 516

        Listing vCenter Default Connectivity Alarms 516

        Listing Possible Actions for Utilization and Connectivity Alarms 517

        Creating a vCenter Utilization Alarm 518

        Creating a vCenter Connectivity Alarm 521

        Configuring Alarm Triggers 524

        Configuring Alarm Actions 525

        For a Given Alarm, Identifying the Affected Resource in a vSphere Implementation 525

    Summary 526

Chapter 8 What Do I Do Now? 533

    Scheduling the Test 533

    Comparing Your Knowledge to the VCP510 Exam Blueprint Objectives 534

    Studying the Questions at the End of Each Chapter and on the Bonus Material 535

    Taking the Mock Exam on the VMware Website 536

    The Day of the Test 536

    Sending Me an Email When You Pass 537

Appendix A Answers to the “Do I Know This Already?” Quizzes and Chapter Review Questions 539

TOC, 9780789749314, 7/12/2012