• Configure and manage vCenter Server and ESXi environments.
• Build and manage vSphere clusters using HA, DRS, and vSAN.
• Configure advanced storage and networking.
• Perform vSphere lifecycle and upgrade operations.
• Troubleshoot infrastructure, storage, connectivity, and PowerCLI issues.
• Back up and standardize vCenter configurations.
• Implement security controls including VM encryption and secure vMotion.

Module 1: Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics
• Course objectives

Module 2: Creating and Configuring Management Clusters

• Create a vSphere cluster for management workloads
• Activate vSphere cluster features that help to improve resource allocation and availability of virtual machines
• Use standard virtual switches to create networking in a cluster
• Select the appropriate vSphere storage types to meet requirements
• Configure iSCSI storage
• Configure VMFS and NFS datastores
• Recognize when to configure ESXi NTP and PTP support
• Recognize ESXi user account best practices
• Configure ESXi host settings
• Use vSphere configuration profiles to maintain consistent ESXi host configurations

Module 3: Creating and Configuring Production Clusters

• Use Cluster Quickstart to create a vSAN-activated cluster
• Configure advanced vSphere HA settings
• Configure the vCenter identity provider
• Assign specific permissions and roles to Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) users
• Configure Enhanced vMotion Compatibility on a cluster and a VM
• Perform a Cross vCenter Server migration
• Use content libraries to share virtual machine templates between sites
• Manage VM and ESXi host resources using resource pools, scalable shares, and vSphere DRS rules

Module 4: Troubleshooting vSphere and Backing Up Configurations

• Troubleshoot ESXi connectivity issues
• Troubleshoot ESXi storage issues
• Troubleshoot vSphere cluster issues
• Troubleshoot PowerCLI issues
• Generate vCenter and ESXi log bundles
• Back up vCenter
• Create a vCenter profile to standardize configurations in the environment

Module 5: Lifecycle Management

• Troubleshoot upgrade-blocking issues
• Increase logging levels on vCenter
• Configure a VMware Tools shared repository
• Upgrade vCenter
• Upgrade ESXi
• Upgrade VMware Tools
• Upgrade virtual machine hardware compatibility

Module 6: vSphere Security

• Configure a key management server
• Encrypt virtual machines using vSphere VM encryption
• Secure VMs in transit with encrypted vSphere vMotion
• Identify and implement different ESXi CPU scheduler options
• Apply security hardening guidelines to ESXi hosts
• Replace vCenter certificates with trusted CA-signed certificates
• Reconfigure the primary network identifier for a vCenter instance

5 days

The course uses scenario-based, hands-on lab exercises based on realistic enterprise infrastructure situations. Unlike step-by-step labs, participants are expected to analyze the requirements, research appropriate solutions, and determine how to complete the assigned tasks. References and suggested documentation are provided as part of the exercises.

• System Administrators
• System Engineers
• VMware Infrastructure Professionals
• Virtualization Administrators
• Data Center Professionals responsible for advanced vSphere environments

• Completion of VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage
• Completion of VMware vSphere: Operate, Scale, and Secure
• Working knowledge of VMware vSAN
• System administration experience with Microsoft Windows or Linux.