VMware vSphere:

Install, Configure, Manage

Lab Manual
ESXi 7.x and vCenter Server 7.x

VMware® Education Services

VMware, Inc.
www.vmware.com/education
VMware vSphere:
Install, Configure, Manage
ESXi 7.x and vCenter Server 7.x
Part Number EDU-EN-ICM7-LAB
Lab Manual

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Course development: Vivian Li, Jerry Ozbun
Technical review: John Krueger, Joseph Desmond, Joe Cooper, Roy Freeman, Carla
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Technical editing: James Brook, Shalini Pallat
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TABLE OF C ONTENT S

Lab 1: Accessing the vSphere ICM lab ...............................................................................................4

Lab 2: Installing & Configuring ESXi Hosts ......................................................................................6
Lab 3: Deploying and configuring a Virtual Machines ......................................................................12
Lab 4: Working with vCenter Server ................................................................................................ 18
Lab 5: Creating Folders in vCenter Server Appliance ......................................................................29
Lab 6: Integrating vCenter and Active Directory Server .................................................................. 31
Lab 7: Using Standard Switches ....................................................................................................... 31
Lab 8: Using vSphere Distributed Switches ..................................................................................... 35
Lab 9: Accessing iSCSI Storage ....................................................................................................... 41
Lab 10: Accessing NFS Storage ....................................................................................................... 45
Lab 11: Managing VMFS Datastores ................................................................................................ 49
Lab 12: Using Templates and Clones ............................................................................................... 55
Lab 13: Modifying Virtual Machines ............................................................................................... 61
Lab 14: Migrating Virtual Machines................................................................................................. 69
Lab 15: Managing Virtual Machines ................................................................................................ 77
Lab 16: Managing vApps .................................................................................................................. 87
Lab 17: Managing Resource Pools ................................................................................................... 93
Lab 18: Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance ........................................................................... 97
Lab 19: Using Alarms ..................................................................................................................... 101
Lab 20: Using vSphere HA ............................................................................................................. 125
Lab 21: Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster ...............................................................................137
Answer Key ......................................................................................................................................161
1
Lab 1
Access the vSphere ICM lab

Objective: Access the student desktop and

understand the lab enviroment
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Access Your Student Desktop System

2. Follow the instructor for discovery lab enviroment

Task 1: Access Your Student Desktop System

The desktop system assigned to you serves as an end-user terminal. You access and
manage the lab environment from the student desktop system.
Students should perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Student desktop login name
• Student desktop password
1. On your computer, start a remote connection application, such as Remote
Desktop Connection on Windows machines, to connect to the lab environment.
Your instructor will provide details about how to access your student desktop
system in the lab.
2. Log in to your student desktop with the login name and password.

Task 2: Follow the instructor for discovery lab enviroment

The instructor will explain the vSphere lab environment, include:
- ESXi 7.x hosts
- vCenter 7.x Appliance

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- SAN Storage (iSCSI, NFS)
- Active Directory Server
- Remote Desktop Server
- The network

5
Lab 2
Installing & Configuring ESXi Hosts

2
Objective: Install & Configure an
ESXi host
In this lab, you perform the following tasks:

1. Install ESXi on a VM
2. Examine the Options in the DCUI
3. Configure the Management Network
4. Enable SSH
5. View System Logs
6. Clean Up for the Next Lab

Students perform the steps in all tasks individually

6
Task 1: Install ESXi
You install VMware ESXi™ on a virtual machine. This nested ESXi host operates in the same
way as a physical host but uses different user interfaces for the installation. You use the VMware
Host Client™ to configure and manage the nested ESXi host.
1. From the taskbar, open your Web browser. From the address bar, type: <your
ESXi>.vclass.local.
Example: If you’re Student A, you should type esxi01.vclass.local (or 172.20.10.51), or
esxi02.vclass.local (or 172.20.10.52) for Student B

2. When a Security Warning window appears, select Understand the risk, choose Add Exception,
and Confirm Security.
3. In the User name text box, enter root.
4. In the Password text box, enter the standard lab password and click Log in.
5. In the Navigator pane on the left, select Virtual Machines.
6. Right-click esxi-host-vm and select Power > Power On.
7. If you are prompted with Answer question prompt, select I moved it and click Answer
8. Right-click esxi-host-vm and select Console > Open browser console

NOTE
Whenever the screen appears frozen, it is due to inactivity timeout. Press Ctrl+Alt to release
the pointer. Right-click the Console tab and select Refresh (F5).
9. On the Welcome to the VMware ESXi 7.x.0 Installation page, press Enter.
10. On the Accept the End-User License Agreement page, press F11 to accept and continue.
11. On the Select a Disk to Install or Upgrade page, ensure that the local disk is selected and
press Enter.
12. On the Please select a keyboard layout page, ensure your setup language is selected and
press Enter.
13. On the Enter a root password page, enter the standard lab password in the Password and
Confirm password text boxes and press Enter.
14. When the Error(s)/Warning(s) Found During System Scan message appears, press Enter
to accept that the system does not support hardware virtualization.
15. Press F11 to confirm the installation.
The installation might take a few minutes. A progress bar shows the completion status of the
installation.You might need to refresh the screen by right-clicking the virtual machine’s

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console tab in Your browser and selecting Refresh (F5).
16. When the Installation Complete message appears, press Enter to reboot the system.
17. Monitor the reboot process until the DCUI reappears and then leave your screen open for
the next lab task.

Task 2: Examine the Options in the DCUI

In VMware Host Client, you connect to the host Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) and
view and modify the nested ESXi host configuration.
1. In the Console tab of the host where the DCUI is opened, press F2 to customize the system
or view the logs.

NOTE
The console may have timed out due to inactivity since the previous lab. If so, press Ctrl +
Alt to release your cursor and right-click the Console tab and select Refresh (F5) from the
drop- down menu.
2. In the Authentication Required dialog box, ensure that root appears in the Login Name text box.
3. Press Tab to enter the standard lab password in the Password text box.
4. On the System Customization screen, ensure that the Configure Password option is
selected and press Enter to change the nested host password.

8
Task 3: Configure the Management Network
In order to manage your host remotely, you must configure the ESXi host management network
interface. This interface will be used by VMware Host Client and VMware vCenter Server®
to access the host.
1. Use the down arrow to select Configure Management Network.
In the right pane, you can see that the IP address is acquired from DHCP server.
2. Press Enter.
3. Press the down arrow to go to IPv4 Configuration and press Enter to change it.
4. Press the down arrow to go to Set static IPv4 address and network configuration and
press the space bar to select it.
5. Press Enter to save the acquired DHCP IP address as the static IP address.
6. On the Configure Management Network page, use the down arrow to navigate to
DNS Configuration and press Enter.
7. If Use the following DNS server addresses and hostname is not already selected, press
the down arrow to go to the option and press the space bar to select it.
8. In the Hostname text box, enter esxi-host-vm and press Enter to save your changes.
9. Press Esc.
10. When prompted by the Configure Management Network: Confirm message, press Y
to accept the changes.

Task 4: Enable SSH

You enable SSH so that you can run commands or scripts on your ESXi host in a secure fashion.
By default, the SSH service is disabled. An open SSH port may pose a potential security risk. You
should enable it only as needed and disable it after the required task is completed.
1. On the System Customization page, use the down arrow to select Troubleshooting Options

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and press Enter.
2. On the Troubleshooting Options page, use the down arrow to select Enable SSH and
press Enter.
The option changes from Enable SSH to Disable
SSH. In the right pane, you should see SSH is
Enabled.
3. Press Esc to return to the main options page.

Task 5: View System Logs

You view system logs for diagnostic purposes.
1. Use the down arrow to select View System Logs and press Enter.
2. Press 1 to display the host’s Syslog.
3. Press the down arrow or the space bar to scroll through the Syslog content.
4. When you finish viewing the log, press Q to quit.
5. Press Esc to return to the main page.

Task 6: Clean Up for the Next Lab

As you performed this lab in a nested ESXi host that is not used in subsequent labs, you shut it
down and delete it from inventory. Subsequent host-related labs use hosts in the deployed lab
environment.
1. On the main page, press F12 to shut down or restart the host.
The Authentication Required page appears.
2. Accept the default login name, enter the changed root password for the nested host to confirm
the shutdown, and press Enter.

NOTE
The root password for the nested host is the standard lab password changed to all lowercase in
task 1.
3. On the Shut down/Restart options page, press F2 to shut down the nested ESXi host virtual
machine.
4. After the progress bar at the bottom shows complete, close your console tab and return to the
VMware Host Client.
5. If you have been logged out due to inactivity, log in again with the user name root and the

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standard lab password.
6. In VMware Host Client, select Virtual Machines in the left pane.
7. In the right pane, right-click esxi-host-vm and select Delete.
8. On the Delete VM page, click Delete.
9. Leave VMware Host Client open for the next lab.

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Lab 3
Deploying and Configuring a Virtual

3
Machine

Objective: Create and prepare a

virtual machine for use
In this lab, you perform the following tasks:

1. Create a Virtual Machine

2. Install a Guest Operating System
3. Install VMware Tools
4. Install Files

Students perform the steps in all tasks individually

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Task 1: Create a Virtual Machine
You create a virtual machine based on specific requirements, such as a particular operating
system or hardware configuration. In this task, you create one virtual machine on each ESXi
host.
1. Open your Web browser in remote desktop. From the address bar, type: <your
ESXi>.vclass.local.
2. Log in using root as the host user name and the standard lab password.
3. In the Navigator pane, select Host.
4. In the right pane, click Create/Register VM to start the New Virtual Machine wizard.
5. On the Select creation type page, ensure that create a new virtual machine is selected
and click Next.
6. On the Select name and guest OS page, name the virtual machine with your first name,
followed by the number of your assigned ESXi host and a sequence number, start with 1.
For example, Mike has ESXi01, so his virtual machine is named Mike01-1.
7. For Compatibility, select ESXi 7.0 virtual machine.
8. For Guest OS Family, select Windows.
9. For Version, select Microsoft Windows 2008 (32-bit) as the Guest operating system
version and click Next.

10. On the Select storage page, select the local-esxi local datastore and click Next.
11. On the Customize settings page, enter 1 for CPU, enter 1024 MB for Memory, and enter
11 GB for Hard Disk 1, and choose Disk Provisioning type: “Thin Provisioned”

12. Locate CD/DVD Drive 1 and select Datastore ISO file from the drop-down menu.

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13. In the Datastore browser window, browse to local-esxi and choose the guest operating
system ISO image
en_windows_server_2008_datacenter_enterprise_standard_xxx.iso , click
Select

14. On the Customize Settings page, click the triangle next to CD/DVD Drive 1.
15. Select the Connect at power on and Connect check boxes and click Next.

16. On the Ready to Complete page, review the information and click Finish.
17. In the Navigator pane, verify that the virtual machine number count is 1.

In the Navigator pane, select Virtual Machines and verify that your newly created virtual machine
appears in the right pane.
18. Click the virtual machine name in the right pane.
19. Expand the General Information pane, Hardware Configuration pane, and
Resource Consumption pane to review the current settings.
20. In the Hardware Configuration pane, expand Hard disk 1 and record the information.
• Backing
• Capacity
• Thin provisioned

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Task 2: Install a Guest Operating System
After creating a virtual machine, you install an operating system.
1. Open your Web browser in remote desktop. From the address bar, type: <your
ESXi>.vclass.local.
2. In VMware Host Client, verify that virtual machine is selected in the Navigator pane.
3. Right-click the virtual machine and select Power > Power on.
4. Right-click the virtual machine and select Console > Open console in new tab to monitor
the installation progress.

5. If activity in the console becomes unresponsive, refresh the display by right-clicking the
Console tab and selecting Refresh (F5).

NOTE
You can press Ctrl+Alt at any time to release the pointer from the virtual machine console.
You can use the space bar to select check boxes or click buttons.
6. When the Install Windows wizard appears, review the default settings and click Next.
7. Click Install now.
8. Select the I accept the license terms check box and click Next.
9. On the Installation type page, select Custom (Advanced).

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10. Verify that Disk 0 Unallocated Space is selected and click Next.
The Windows installation process may take 8 to 10 minutes.

11. Enter the virtual machine Administrator password is VMware1!, press Tab, and re enter the
password.
12. When the virtual machine’s Initial Configuration Tasks window opens, select the Do not show
this window at logon check box or close this window
13. When the Server Manager window opens, check box Do not show me this console at logon
and close it.
14. Choose the network type Work and close it.

15. Open Control Panel, and disable Firewall of OS and click Apply and OK

16
16. Back to VMware Host Client tab. In the Navigator pane, right-click your virtual machine and
select Edit Settings.
17. From the CD/DVD Drive 1 drop-down menu, select Host device.
18. Expand the CD/DVD Drive 1 view and deselect the Connect at power on check box.

19. Click Save and leave this VMware Host Client tab open for the next task.

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Task 3: Install VMware Tools
After installing an operating system on your virtual machines, you install VMware Tools™ in
virtual machine has been created
1. In VMware Host Client, right-click your VM name in the Navigator pane and select Guest OS
> Install VMware Tools.
2. Return to the VM console tab and refresh the browser tab until the AutoPlay window appears.
To refresh the virtual machine console, press Ctrl+ Alt to release your cursor and then right-
click the tab and select Refresh (F5) from the drop-down menu.
You might have to refresh more than once.
3. In the AutoPlay window, click Run Setup.exe.
4. If the AutoPlay windows doesn’t start, click Start and select Computer and double-click on CD
Drive to run setup

5. When A User Account Control warning appears, click Yes.

6. On the Welcome to the installation wizard for VMware Tools page, click Next.
7. On the Choose Setup Type page, click Typical and click Next.
8. On the Ready to Install VMware Tools page, click Install.
9. When the installation is completed, click Finish.
10. When the Windows request to restart message appears, select Yes to proceed.
11. After the login page appears in the VM console, click the box middle of console tab,
and choose Guest OS/ Send keys/ Ctrl-Alt-Del

12. Log in with the user name admin and the standard lab password. Leave the window
open for the next task.

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Task 4: Install Files
You mount an ISO image to the virtual machine’s CD/DVD drive so that the files can be copied to
the virtual machine desktop for use in later labs.
1. In the VMware Host Client for your first host, right-click your virtual machine and select Edit
Settings.
2. Expand CD/DVD Drive 1 by clicking the triangle next to it.
3. Select Datastore ISO file from the drop-down menu.
4. For the CD/DVD Media setting, click Browse and navigate to Local-esxi for your host
5. Select ClassFiles-vSphere.iso and click Select.
6. On the Edit settings page, click Save.
7. Return to the VM console tab and log into OS.
8. If the CD/DVD drive does not open automatically, click Start and select Computer.
9. Right-click DVD drive (D:) CDROM and select Open to open the ISO image.
10. Copy the cpubusy VBScript Script file (NOT the cpubusy.pl file) and the iometer application
files from the DVD drive (D:) to the virtual machine’s C:\ drive for use in later labs.
a. Press Ctrl+click to select the files.
b. Press Ctrl to select all files on CD, right-click and select Copy.
c. Right-click on C:\ (don’t paste them on desktop) and select Paste from the drop-down
menu.
11. Return to VMware Host Client and disconnect the virtual machine from Classfiles-
vSphere.iso on the CD/DVD drive.
a. In VMware Host Client, right-click the virtual machine in the inventory pane and select
Edit Settings.
b. In the Hardware list, locate CD/DVD Drive 1.
c. From the drop-down menu, select Host device.
d. Deselect the Connect check box next to CD/DVD Drive 1.
e. Click Save.

12. To avoid future unnecessary logins, disable the screen saver on your virtual machine.
a. From the virtual machine’s desktop, select Start > Control Panel.

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b. Double-click Personalization.

c. Click Screen Saver.

d. From the Screen saver drop-down menu, select (None) and click OK.

e. Close the Control Panel window.

13. Shutdown your virtual machine and close the vSphere Host Client.

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Lab 4
Working with vCenter Server

4
Objective: Install and use vCenter
Server Appliance
In this lab, you perform the following tasks:

1. Deploy vCenter Server Appliance

2. Complete the vCenter Server Appliance Deployment
3. Access and Configure vCenter Server Appliance
4. Add Your ESXi Hosts to the vCenter Server Inventory
5. Configure the ESXi Hosts as NTP Clients
6. Back Up vCenter Server Appliance
7. Complete the vCenter Server Appliance Deployment

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Task 1: Deploy vCenter Server Appliance
You deploy a VMware vCenter® Server Appliance™ on a your ESXi host. (Student A on ESXi-01
host, and student B on ESXi-02 host).
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. On your student remote desktop, navigate to the CD ROM
2. Double-click the vcsa-ui-installer folder.
3. Double-click the win32 folder.
4. Locate and double-click the installer.exe application.
5. On the vCenter Server Appliance 7.x Installer page, click Install.
6. On the Install-Stage 1: Deploy appliance page, select the I accept the terms of the license
agreement check box and click Next.
7. On the Appliance deployment target page, enter your ESXi IP address in the ESXi
host or vCenter Server name text box.
8. In the HTTPS port text box, enter 443.
9. In the User name text box, enter root.
10. In the Password text box, enter the VMware1! and click Next.
11. On the Certificate Warning page, click Yes.
12. On the Set up appliance VM page,
- Enter vcsa-01 in the VM name text box if you’re studentA.
- Enter vcsa-02 in the VM name text box if you’re studentB.
13. Enter the standard lab password in the Root password and Confirm root password text boxes
and click Next.
14. On the Select deployment size page, accept the default Tiny and click Next.
15. On the Select datastore page, select Local-esxi as the deployment datastore.
16. Select the Enable Thin Disk Mode check box and click Next.
17. On the Configure network settings page, select VM Network from the Network drop-down
menu.
18. From the IP version drop-down menu, select IPv4.
19. From the IP assignment drop-down menu, select static.
20. In the FQDN (System name) text box,

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- Enter vcsa-01.vclass.local if you’re studentA.
- Enter vcsa-02.vclass.local if you’re studentB.
21. In the IP address text box,
- Enter 172.20.10.194 if you’re studentA.
- Enter 172.20.10.195 if you’re studentB.
22. In the Subnet mask or prefix length text box, enter 255.255.255.0.
23. In the Default gateway text box, enter 172.20.10.10.
24. In the DNS servers text box, enter 172.20.10.10 and click Next.
25. Click Finish.
The Deploying the appliance status bar shows the deployment progress. This deployment might
take 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

Task 2: Complete the vCenter Server Appliance Deployment

You return to the vCenter Server Appliance deployment to complete the final steps and clean up for
the next lab.
Students should perform the steps in this task individually.
1. Return to the vCenter Server Appliance deployment screen and click Continue.
2. On the Introduction page of stage 2, click Next.
3. On the Appliance configuration page, choose Synchronize with NTP Server in the Time
synchronization mode text box and type 172.20.10.10 in NTP Servers box, then click Next.

4. On the SSO configuration page, enter vsphere.local in the SSO domain name text box.
5. In the SSO password and Confirm password text boxes, enter the standard lab password.
6. On the Configure CEIP page, deselect the Join the VMware Customer Experience
Improvement Program check box and click Next.
7. On the Ready to complete page, click Finish.
8. When you are prompted with the warning message You will not be able to pause or
stop the install from completing once it’s started. Click OK to
continue or Cancel to stop, click OK.
The installation might take about 20 minutes to complete.
9. When the progress bar shows that the installation is complete, click Close.
If your browser is open, it will automatically open a new browser tab.
10. Back to vSphere Host Client web browser with root as user name and the standard lab password.
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11. In the navigator pane, select Virtual Machines.
12. In the right pane, right-click your newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance and select Power
> Power off.
13. When prompted with the warning messaging about powering off the virtual machine, click Yes
to continue.
14. When vCenter Server Appliance is powered off, right-click it in the Navigator pane and select
Delete.
15. When prompted with the Are you sure message, click Delete.

Task 3: Access & Install vCenter Server Appliance and Host License
Keys
You install license keys in vCenter Server Appliance to unlock the advanced features of VMware
vSphere® 7.
Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.

1. Open your Web browser in remote desktop. From the address bar, type IP address or DNS name
of vCenter Appliance, choose one of them: vcva01.vclass.local or 172.20.10.94
2. Accept Certificate warning, choose Launch vSphere Client (HTML5) and login with user:
[email protected] and default lab password: VMware1!
3. In the vSphere Client Web, click the Menu icon on the blue bar and select Administration.

4. In the Navigator pane, select Licenses and click the Licenses tab in the content pane.

5. Click the Add New Licenses icon.

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6. On the Enter license keys page, enter the VMware vCenter Server and vSphere
Enterprise Plus license keys in the License keys text box.
7. Verify that two licenses are listed in the text box and click Next.

8. On the Edit license names page, enter VMware vCenter Server in the VMware
vCenter Server 7 license name text box.
9. Enter VMware vSphere in the VMware vSphere 7 license name text box and click Next.

10. On the Ready to complete page, click Finish.

11. (Option) You can zoom out the browser for bigger screen.

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12. You need to assign key license to vCenter appliance.

a. In the center pane, click the Assets tab, and choose vCenter Server Systems Tab

b. Check box the vCenter Server Appliance instance and select Assign License.

c. In the Assign License window, select the VMware vCenter Server license and click OK.

Task 4: Create a Data Center Object

You create a fully functional virtual data center, which contains all your inventory objects, including
VMware ESXi™ hosts, virtual machines, and datastores.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.

1. Open your Web browser in remote desktop. From the address bar, type IP address or DNS name
of vCenter Appliance, choose one of them: vcva01.vclass.local or 172.20.10.94
2. Choose vSphere Client (HTML5)

3. Choose Menu icon, click Hosts and Clusters.

4. In the Navigator pane, right-click your vCenter Server Appliance name and
select New Datacenter.
5. In the Datacenter name text box, enter Training and click OK.

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In the Navigator pane, you should see the new data center object listed under
vCenter Server Appliance.

Task 5: Add Your ESXi Host to the vCenter Server Inventory

To create a vSphere virtual environment and use vSphere features, you add ESXi hosts to the
vCenter Server inventory.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the vSphere Client Web, click the Menu icon and select Home.

2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, select Hosts and Clusters.

3. In the Navigator pane, right-click Training and select Add Host.

The Add Host wizard appears.

4. On the Name and location page, enter the (FQDN) or IP of your ESXi host and click Next.

5. On the Connection settings page, enter your ESXi host login user name and password and click
Next.
6. If you see a security alert stating that the certificate store of vCenter Server cannot verify the
certificate, click Yes to proceed.
7. On the Host summary page, review the information and click Next.

8. On the Assign license page, click the button for your VMware vSphere license key and click
Next.
9. On the Lockdown mode page, leave Disabled clicked and click Next.

10. On the VM location page, leave the Training data center object selected and click Next.

11. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

12. In the vSphere Client Web Recent Tasks pane, monitor the progress of the task.

13. In the Navigator pane, click the arrow next to Training to expand the view.
14. In the Navigator pane, select your ESXi host and click the Summary tab to view the information,
such as its CPU, memory, storage, NICs, and virtual machines.

Task 6: Configure Your ESXi Host as an NTP Client

Students should perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the vSphere Client Web, select your ESXi host in the inventory, click the
Configure tab, and click the System tab.
2. In the middle pane, select Time Configuration under System and view the current settings.

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3. In the Time Configuration pane, verify that the NTP client (your ESXi host) appears as disabled,
the NTP service status appears as stopped, and no NTP server is defined.
4. Click Edit. The Edit Time Configuration dialog box appears.

5. Click Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client).

6. From the NTP Service Startup Policy drop-down menu, select Start and stop with host.

7. In the NTP Servers text box, enter the IP address of your NTP server: 172.20.10.10

8. Under NTP Service Status, click Start and click OK

9. In the Time Configuration pane, verify that the NTP client appears as enabled and that the NTP
service status appears as running.
10. Close the vSphere Client Web.

Task 7: Back Up vCenter Server Appliance

You back up your vCenter Server appliance by connecting to the vCenter Server Appliance with a
Web browser using Management port 5480.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.

1. Open web browser and enter https://vcva01.vclass.local:5480 in the address bar to

access your vCenter Server Management port.
2. If the Security Warning appears, click Understand Security, Add exception and Confirm
3. Log in with root as the user name and the standard lab password: VMware1! and click Login.
4. On the Summary page, click Backup on the left site of the screen and click Backup Now tab
5. In the Backup location text box, enter ftp://172.20.10.14/san-openfiler/vc-
backup/share/
6. In the User name text box, enter openfiler

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7. In the Password text box, enter password in password box and click Start.
8. When the vCenter Server backup progress bar appears, close the vCenter Server Appliance
Management UI browser tab.

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Lab 5
Creating Folders in vCenter
Server Appliance

Objective: Create vCenter Server inventory

objects
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create a Host and Cluster Folder

2. Create Virtual Machine and Template Folders

6
Task 1: Create a Host and Cluster Folder
You use folders to group hosts and clusters of the same type for easier management.

Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.

1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters.
2. In the left pane, click the arrow to expand the vCenter Server inventory.

3. Right-click Training and select New Folder > New Host and Cluster Folder.

4. Enter Lab Servers as the folder name and click OK.

5. Drag both the VMware ESXi™ hosts to the Lab Servers folder.
6. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the Move Entities tasks until they complete.

7. In the vSphere Client Web, click the Menu icon and select Home.

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Task 2: Create Virtual Machine and Template Folders
You use folders to group virtual machines of the same type for easier management.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Menu and choose VMs and Templates.

2. Right-click the Training data center and select New Folder > New VM and Template Folder.
3. Enter LabVMs as the folder name and click OK.
4. In the left pane, click the arrow to expand the Training data center.
5. Drag both virtual machines into the LabVMs folder.
6. Expand the LabVMs folder to verify that both virtual machines are in the folder.
7. Right-click Training and select New Folder > New VM and Template Folder to create a
second virtual machine folder.
8. Enter Templates as the folder name and click OK.
9. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.

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Lab 6 (Option)
Integrating VMware vCenter and
Active Directory Server

Objective: Integrating VMware vCenter and Active Directory

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Join vCenter Server to the vclass.local domain

2. Add vclass.local as an Identity Source

3. View Active Directory Users

4. Assign Object Permission to an Active Directory User

5. Log In as an Active Directory User

6. Use an Active Directory User to Create a Virtual Machine

Task 1: Join vCenter Server to the vclass.local Domain

You join vcenter to the vclass.local domain, which is an Active Directory identity source. After
joining the domain, an AD user can be selected and assigned rights to manage a virtual machine.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
1. Login to vSphere Client Web of vCenter.

2. From the Menu drop-down menu, select Administration.

3. In the navigation pane under Single Sign-On, select Configuration.

4. In the Configuration pane, click Active Directory Domain.

The vcva01.vclass.local node is selected.

5. Click JOIN AD.
The Join Active Directory Domain dialog box opens.
6. Configure the Active Directory domain options.

a. Enter vclass.local in the Domain text box.

b. Leave the Organizational Unit text box blank.

c. Enter [email protected] in the User name text box.

d. Enter VMware1! in the Password text box.

e. Click JOIN.

7. Verify that vcva01.vclass.local successfully joined Active Directory.

8. Restart vCenter Server Appliance using the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface.
vCenter Server Appliance must be restarted for these changes to take effect. a. Open a
new tab in the browser.

b. From the web browser toolbar, type: https://172.20.10.94:5480

c. If a security warning appears, click Advanced and click Accept the Risk and Continue.

d. At the login screen, log in by entering root for the user name and VMware1! for the
password.
The vCenter Server Management window opens.
e. From the Actions drop-down menu in the top-right corner, select Reboot.

f. Click YES to proceed.

The reboot takes 10–15 minutes. During this time, the vSphere Client is unavailable.
9. Close the VMware Appliance Management browser tab.
10. In the vSphere Client tab, refresh the screen periodically until the vSphere Client login page
appears.

Task 2: Add vclass.local as an Identity Source

You add an identity source to enable the single sign-on configuration.

Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.

1. In vSphere vCenter Web Client

2. From the Menu drop-down menu, select Administration.

3. In the navigation pane under Single Sign On, select Configuration.

4. In the right pane, click Identity Sources.

The vsphere.local and LocalOS domains appear as identity sources.
5. Click ADD.

The Add Identity Source dialog box opens.

6. For the Identity Source Type, verify that Active Directory (Integrated Windows
Authentication) is selected.

7. Verify that the domain name is vclass.local.

8. Click ADD.

9. Verify that vclass.local is added as an identity source.

Task 3: View Active Directory Users

You view the list of Active Directory users to verify that the Administrator single sign-on account
exists.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.

1. In vSphere vCenter Web Client

2. From the Menu drop-down menu, select Administration.

3. Under Single Sign-On in the navigation pane, select Users and Groups.

By default, the list of users for the LocalOS domain appears in the right pane.
4. In the Users pane, select vclass.local from the Domain drop-down menu.

5. Verify that the Administrator user name appears in the list.

Task 4: Assign Object Permission to an Active Directory User

You assign permission at the vCenter Server level to the [email protected] and [email protected]
user. These are normal users on Active Directory Server (not Administrator role)
This permission propagates to the child objects of vCenter Server.
Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.

1. From the Menu drop-down menu, select Hosts and Clusters.

2. In the navigation pane, select vcva01.vclass.local.
3. In the right pane, click Permissions.

4. Click the Add Permission icon (the plus sign).

The Add Permission window opens.

5. Configure the permission settings.

a. From the Domain drop-down menu, select vclass.local.

NOTE

Ensure that you select vclass.local, not vsphere.local.

b. In the User/Group search box, enter usera and select Administrator from the list.

c. Leave the role as Administrator.

d. Select the Propagate to children check box.

e. Click OK.

f. Repeat step b to e to add userb

6. Verify that vclass\usera and vclass\userb appears in the list, is assigned the Administrator role,
and is defined in the vCenter Server object and its children.

Task 5: Log In as an Active Directory User

You log in to the vSphere Client as usera/[email protected] and verify that the login is successful.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
1. Log out of the vSphere Client.

2. On the vSphere Client login screen, enter [email protected] as the user name and VMware1! as
the password.

3. Verify that you are logged in to the vSphere Client as [email protected].

4. Verify again that you logged into as [email protected]

Task 6: Use an Active Directory User to Create a Virtual Machine

You create a virtual machine to show how an Active Directory user can perform administrative tasks.
Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.

1. In the vSphere Client by [email protected] or [email protected] , from the Menu drop-down

menu, select VMs and Templates.
2. Create a VM named Test VM in the Lab VMs folder.

a. In the navigation pane, expand Datacenter.

b. Right-click Lab VMs and select New Virtual Machine.

The New Virtual Machine wizard opens.

c. On the Select a creation type page, select Create a new virtual machine and click NEXT.

d. On the Select a name and folder page, enter Test VM in the Virtual machine name text box.
e. Verify that Lab VMs is selected and click NEXT.

f. On the Select a compute resource page, expand the Lab Servers folder, select saesxi-
01.vclass.local, and click NEXT.

g. On the Select storage page, select local-Datastore and click NEXT.

h. On the Select compatibility page, leave ESXi 7.0 and later selected and click NEXT.

i. On the Select a guest OS page, select Windows from the Guest OS Family drop-down
menu.
j. Select Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32-bit) from the Guest OS Version drop-down
menu and click NEXT.

k. On the Customize hardware page, choose 1 vCPU, 1GB Memory, 10GB Hard Disk
l. Click NEXT.

m. On the Ready to complete page, click FINISH.

n. Expand the Lab VMs folder in the navigation pane and verify that Test VM appears under
this folder.
3. Delete Test VM.
a. In the navigation pane, right-click Test VM and select Delete from Disk.

b. Click YES to confirm the deletion.

c. Verify that Test VM does not appear under the Lab VMs folder.

4. Log out of the vSphere Client.

Lab 7
Using Standard Switches

Objective: Create a standard switch and a port

group
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

7. View the Standard Switch Configuration

8. Create a Standard Switch with a Virtual Machine Port Group

9. Attach Your Virtual Machine to the New Virtual Machine Port Group

Task 1: View the Standard Switch Configuration

You view the VMware vSphere® standard switch settings to ensure the proper
configuration of the default switch.

7
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• ESXi host name
1. open a Web browser and connect to the VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance™ home page at
https://vcva01.vclass.local and login
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters.
3. Select Training > Lab Servers > your_ESXi_host.
4. Click the Configure tab and click the Networking tab.

5. Select Virtual Switches.

Q1. What is the name of the default standard switch?

Q2. Which physical adapter is the default standard switch connected to?

Q3. Which network is your virtual machine connected to?

Q4. Which networks are connected to the default standard switch?

Task 2: Create a Standard Switch with a Virtual Machine Port Group

You create a port group to configure a NIC port on a standard switch, which handles network traffic
at the host level in your vSphere environment.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the Virtual switches pane, click the Add networking icon.

The Add Networking wizard appears.

2. On the Select connection type page, click Virtual Machine Port Group for a Standard
Switch and click Next.
3. On the Select target device page, click New standard switch and click Next.

4. On the Create a Standard Switch page, click the Add Adapters icon (the green plus sign).

5. Select vmnic1 and click OK.

6. Review the information for the new active adapter and click Next.

7. On the Connection Settings page, enter Production in the Network label text box and click
Next.

8. On the Ready to complete page, verify that the information is accurate and click Finish.

9. In the Virtual switches pane, select vSwitch1.

10. Verify that the Production port group appears.

The screenshot shows the new standard switch and the network label.

Task 3: Attach Your Virtual Machine to the New Virtual

Machine Port Group
You attach the virtual machine to the virtual switch port group so that the virtual machine can
communicate with other networked devices.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Virtual machine administrator password
1. In the vSphere Client Web, click the Menu icon and select VMs and Templates.
2. In the left pane, click the arrows to expand the data center and folders.
3. Select Training > LabVMs.
4. Right-click your virtual machine and select Edit Settings.
5. Click the arrow next to Network Adapter 1 to expand the view,

6. From the drop-down menu, select Browse and select Production.

7. Verify that the Connected and the Connect at power on check boxes are selected.
8. Click OK to close the Edit Settings window.
9. Renew the virtual machine’s IP address.
a. In the left pane, select your virtual machine, Power ON it.

b. In the center pane, click Open console

NOTE
Your Web browser must be configured to allow pop-ups.

c. Click Send Ctrl+Alt+Del in the top-right corner of the virtual machine console.

d. Log in with the virtual machine administrator password.

e. Select Start > Run.

f. In the Start Search text box, enter cmd to open a Command Prompt window.

g. At the command prompt, enter ipconfig /release.

h. Enter ipconfig /renew.

i. Record the virtual machine’s IP address and the default gateway.
10. At the virtual machine’s command prompt, ping the AD server (172.20.10.10) to verify the
virtual machine’s network connectivity.
Your ping should be successful.
11. If the ping is not successful, repeat the steps in task 2 and in this task to verify that your
configuration is accurate.
12. Leave the vSphere Client Web and virtual machine console open for the next lab.
Lab 8
Using vSphere Distributed Switches

Objective: Create and configure a distributed switch

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create a Distributed Switch

2. Add the ESXi Hosts to the New Distributed Switch

3. Examine Your Distributed Switch Configuration

4. Migrate the Virtual Machines to a Distributed Switch Port Group

5. Prepare for the Next Lab

Lab 8 Using vSphere Distributed Switches 35

Task 1: Create a Distributed Switch
You create a distributed switch that functions as a single virtual switch across all associated hosts in
your VMware vSphere® environment.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
1. open a Web browser and connect to the VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance™ home page at
https://vcva01.vclass.local_name
/vsphere-client and log in.
2. In the vSphere Client Web, click the Menu icon and select Networking.

3. Click the arrow next to Training to expand the view.

4. Right-click Training and select Distributed Switch > New Distributed Switch.

5. On the Name and location page, enter your_name-dvs in the Name text box and click Next.
6. On the Select version page, leave Distributed switch as default selected and click Next.

7. On the Edit settings page, configure the distributed switch parameters.

Option Action
Number of uplinks Enter 1.

Network I/O Control Leave Enabled selected.

Default port group Leave the check box selected.

Port group name Enter your_name-pg-Production in the text box.

8. Click Next.
9. On the Ready to complete page, review the configuration settings and click Finish.

The your_name-dvs distributed switch should be listed in the Navigator pane.

Task 2: Add the ESXi Hosts to the New Distributed Switch

You add VMware ESXi™ hosts and physical adapters to the distributed switch, which
acts as a central interface to configure, monitor, and administer the virtual machine
switching for your data center.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vmnic for the distributed switch
• ESXi host name
1. In the Navigator pane, right-click the your_name-dvs distributed switch and
select Add and Manage Hosts.

2. On the Select task page, leave Add hosts clicked and click Next.

3. On the Select hosts page, click New Hosts (the green plus sign).

4. Select your assigned ESXi host check box and click OK.

5. Click Next.

6. On the Manage physical network adapters page, select the vmnic2 specified in the class
configuration handout for the distributed switch and click Assign uplink.
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7. Select Uplink 1 and click OK.

8. Review the result and Click Next.

9. Leave default setting on Manage VMkernal adapters tab , click Next

10. Leave default setting on Migrate VM networking tab , click Next
11. On the Ready to complete page, review your settings and click Finish.

Task 3: Examine Your Distributed Switch Configuration

You examine the configuration of the distributed switch uplink, which is bound to the associated
physical interfaces on the ESXi hosts. You also examine other distributed switch features, including
the maximum transmission unit (MTU) value, VLAN capabilities, LACP aggregation groups,
NetFlow, and VMware vSphere® Network I/O Control.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the Networking inventory tree, select the your_name-dvs distributed switch and click the
arrow next to it to expand the view.
2. In the middle pane, click the Configure tab, click the Settings tab, and select Topology.
3. In the distributed switch topology diagram, click the arrow next to Uplink 1 to expand the view.

4. Verify that your ESXi host’s vmnic interface for the distributed switch is attached.

5. In the middle pane, click the Properties link on the left and verify the settings.

• Network I/O Control is enabled.

• Number of uplinks is 1.
• The MTU size is 1500 bytes.
• The Cisco Discovery Protocol is implemented.
6. In the Networking inventory tree, select the your_name-pg-Production port group.

7. Click the Configure tab and click the Settings tab.

8. Click the Properties link and verify the settings.

• Static port binding is implemented.

• Elastic port allocation is implemented.
• Eight ports are defined.

Task 4: Migrate the Virtual Machines to a Distributed Switch

Port Group
You move the virtual machine from the current standard switch on the ESXi host to the
port group on the distributed switch.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Virtual machine administrator password
• ControlCenter IP address
1. In the Navigator pane, right-click the Prouction portgroup and select Migrate
VM to Another Network.
The Migrate Virtual Machine Networking wizard starts.
2. Migrate the virtual machine from the Production network on the standard switch to the
your_name-pg-Production network on the distributed switch.
a. On the Select source and destination networks page, for the Source network,
leave default is Production
b. For the Destination network, click Browse, select the your_name-pg-
Production port group, and click OK.

c. Click Next.

d. On the Select VMs to migrate page, select your virtual machine check box and click Next.

e. On the Ready to complete page, review the settings and click Finish.

3. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the status of the migration task to completion.

4. In the Navigator pane, select your_name-dvs, click the Hosts tab

5. Verify that your ESXi host is connected to the distributed switch. Your ESXi host’s
state should be Connected.

6. Click the VMs tab and verify that your virtual machine is listed. This demonstrates that your

virtual machine resides on the new distributed switch.

7. Click the Network tab, Distributed Port Groups tab and verify that your_name-pg-Production
is listed.
8. Click the Uplink Port Groups tab and verify that an uplink port group is created for the
distributed virtual switch.
9. Verify that the virtual machine has full network connectivity.

a. If your virtual machine’s console is not already open, log in to it and open a Command
Prompt window.
b. At the virtual machine’s command prompt, ping the ControlCenter’s IP address to verify
the virtual machine’s network connectivity.
Your ping should be successful.
10. If the ping is not successful, enter the ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew
commands to ensure that your virtual machine has a valid DHCP-assigned IP address.
11. Close the Command Prompt window and close the virtual machine console.

Task 5: Prepare for the Next Lab

To prepare for subsequent labs, you migrate the virtual machine from the distributed switch back to
the standard switch.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the vSphere Client Web Navigator pane, right-click the your_name-pg-production
portgroup switch and select Migrate VM to Another Network.
2. Migrate the virtual machines.

a. For the Source network leave default

b. For the Destination network, click Browse, select the Production port group, and click OK
and Next.

c. On the Select VMs to migrate page, select your virtual machine check box and click Next.

d. On the Ready to complete page, review the settings and click Finish.

3. In the Navigator pane, select Production and click the VMs tab.

4. Click Virtual Machines and verify that your virtual machine is listed.

Your virtual machine is migrated back to the standard switch on the Production network.

5. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.

40 Lab 7 Using vSphere Distributed Switches

Lab 9
Accessing iSCSI Storage

Objective: Configure access to an iSCSI datastore

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Add a VMkernel Port Group to a Standard Switch

2. Configure the iSCSI Software Adapter and Connect It to the Storage

Task 1: Add a VMkernel Port Group to a Standard Switch

You use VMkernel interfaces to provide network connectivity for your hosts and to handle other
types of traffic, such as VMware vSphere® vMotion® traffic, storage traffic, and VMware
vSphere® Fault Tolerance traffic.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• VMkernel port IPv4 address
• VMkernel port IPv4 subnet mask
• VMkernel default gateway for IPv4
1. from the address bar, type IP address or DNS name of vCenter Appliance, choose one of them:
vcva01.vclass.local or 172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters.

3. In the left pane, click the arrows to expand the data center and folders.

4. Select your_ESXi_host.

5. Click the Configure tab and click Networking.

6. Select Virtual Switches and select vSwitch0 from the list of virtual switches.

7. Click the Add networking icon (the left-most icon). The

Add Networking wizard starts.

8. On the Select Connection Type page, click VMkernel Network Adapter and click Next.

9. On the Select target device page, click Select an existing standard switch and verify that
vSwitch0 appears in the text box. Click Next.
10. On the Port properties page, enter IP Storage in the Network Label text box and click Next.
11. On the IPv4 settings page, click Use static IPv4 settings and enter the VMkernel port IPv4
address and subnet mask.
12. Verify that the VMkernel default gateway for IPv4 matches the one in the class configuration
handout.
13. Click Next.

14. On the Ready to complete page, click Finish.

Task 2: Configure the iSCSI Software Adapter and Connect It to the
Storage
You use the built-in software iSCSI adapter on the VMware ESXi™ host to directly connect to a
remote iSCSI target on the IP network.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• iSCSI name
• iSCSI server name
1. In the inventory, select your ESXi host, click the Configure tab, and click the Storage tab.

2. Select Storage Adapters and click the Add software adapter icon.

3. Select Add software iSCSI adapter, click OK.

4. In the Storage Adapters list, select the newly created iSCSI software adapter.

5. In the Adapter Details pane, click the Properties tab.

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6. Verify that the adapter status is Enabled.

7. In the Adapter Details pane, click the Network Port Binding tab.

8. Click the Add icon.

9. Select the IP Storage check box and click OK.

10. In the Adapter Details pane, click the Dynamic Discovery tab, click Add.

11. On the Add Send Target Server page, enter the 172.20.10.14 which is IP address of iSCSI
storage in the iSCSI Server text box and click OK.

12. Monitor the Recent Tasks pane and wait for the task to complete.

13. Click the Rescan storage icon.

14. When the rescan storage message appears, accept the default settings, click OK, and wait for
the task to complete.
15. In the Adapter Details pane, click the Paths tab.
16. Verify that six LUNs are found and record the following values:

• Runtime Name
• Target
• LUN
• Status
The LUNs are hosted by an iSCSI provider and are used to create datastores in later labs.
17. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.
Lab 10
Accessing NFS Storage

Objective: Configure access to an NFS datastore

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Configure Access to NFS Datastores

2. View NFS Storage Information

Task 1: Configure Access to NFS Datastores

You mount an NFS share to your VMware ESXi™ host and use it as a datastore.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• NFS folder name
• NFS server host name
1. Open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Storage icon.

3. Righ-click on Training icon from the inventory, choose Storage, and New Datastore icon
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The New Datastore wizard starts.

4. On the Type page, click NFS and click Next.

5. On the Select NFS version page, keep the default setting (NFS 3) and click Next.

6. On the Name and configuration page, configure the datastore name, the folder, and the
NFS server.

Option Action
Datastore name Enter your_name-NFS.
For example, Mike-NFS.

Folder Enter the NFS folder name.

Server Enter the IP address of NFS Storage: 172.20.10.14

7. Click Next.
8. On the Host accessibility page, select your ESXi host check box and click Next.
9. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.
10. Click the Refresh icon in the vSphere Client Web and verify that your NFS datastore is listed
in the inventory.
Task 2: View NFS Storage Information
You view the information about your NFS storage and the contents in the NFS datastore.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the left pane, expand the view of the Training data center and select the your_name-NFS
datastore.
2. Click the Configure tab. In the center pane, select General and click Refresh.

3. Review the NFS storage properties and capacity information shown.

4. Select Connectivity with Hosts.

5. Verify that your ESXi host name is listed, datastore connectivity is connected, and
access mode is read-write.

6. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab
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Lab 11
Managing VMFS Datastores

Objective: Create and manage VMFS datastores

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Change the Name of a VMFS Datastore

2. Create VMFS Datastores for the ESXi Host

3. Expand a VMFS Datastore to Consume Unused Space on a LUN

4. Remove a VMFS Datastore

5. Extend a VMFS Datastore

Task 1: Change the Name of a VMFS Datastore
You can change the name of a VMware vSphere® VMFS datastore.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• Local datastore name
1. open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Storage.

3. In the left pane, expand the vCenter Server instance and the Training data center.

4. In the left pane, right-click local datastore of your ESXi host and select Rename.

5. Enter Local-ESXi## and click OK.

## is the number of your VMware ESXi™ host.
6. In the Navigator pane, verify that the new datastore name appears in the storage inventory.

Task 2: Create VMFS Datastores for the ESXi Host

You set up VMFS datastores on iSCSI-based storage devices to be used as repositories by virtual
machines.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• ESXi host name
• First assigned LUN ID
• Second assigned LUN ID
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters.

2. In the left pane, click the arrows to expand the data center and folders.
3. In the left pane, select your ESXi host name.

4. Right-click the ESXi host and select Storage > New Datastore.
The New Datastore wizard starts.
5. On the Type page, click VMFS and click Next.

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6. On the Name and device selection page, enter PrivateVMFS-## in the
Datastore name text box.
## is your first assigned iSCSI LUN ID.
If you’re student A, your first assigned LUN is LUN 0, the datastore name is PrivateVMFS-
00.
If you’re student B, your first assigned LUN is LUN 2, the datastore name is PrivateVMFS-
02.
7. From the list, select the iSCSI disk with your first assigned LUN ID and click Next.

8. Choose VMFS version is VMFS 6

9. On the Partition configuration page, adjust the Datastore Size slider to reduce the
LUN size by about 3 GB and click Next.
For example, if the current disk size is 29 GB, change the size to about 26 GB.

NOTE
This setting is in preparation for task 3, in which you expand the VMFS datastore to its full size.
10. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

11. Right-click your ESXi host in the inventory and select Storage > New Datastore.

12. On the Type page, leave VMFS clicked and click Next.

13. On the Name and device selection page, enter PrivateVMFS-## in the
Datastore name text box.
## is your second assigned iSCSI LUN ID.
14. Select the iSCSI disk with your second assigned LUN ID from the list and click Next.

15. Choose VMFS version is VMFS 6.

16. On the Partition configuration page, keep the default settings (full capacity) and click Next.

17. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

18. Monitor the progress in the Recent Tasks pane and wait for the task to complete.
19. Select Training, click the Datastores tab.

20. Verify that your two PrivateVMFS-## datastores are listed in the datastore inventory.

21. In the datastore inventory, click your first PrivateVMFS-## datastore.

22. Click the Summary tab and record the value for storage capacity.

Task 3: Expand a VMFS Datastore to Consume Unused Space on a

LUN
You can dynamically increase the capacity of a VMFS datastore when more space is required by
virtual machines.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• First assigned LUN ID
1. In the left pane, click the Storage tab and click the arrows to expand the data center.
2. Right-click the PrivateVMFS-## datastore and click Increase Datastore Capacity.
The Increase Datastore Capacity wizard starts.
3. On the Select Device page, select your first assigned LUN.

The Expandable column of your first assigned LUN should show Yes.

4. Click Next.

5. On the Specify Configuration page, select Use Free Space 3 GB to expand the datastore from
the Partition configuration drop-down menu and click Next.
The free space listed in the drop-down menu might be different in your lab environment.

6. On the Ready to Complete page, review the information and click Finish.

7. When the task is completed, select the PrivateVMFS-## datastore in the left pane.

8. In the center pane, click the Summary tab.

9. Verify that the datastore size is increased to the maximum capacity, minus space for system
overhead.
Task 4: Remove a VMFS Datastore

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You can delete any type of VMFS datastore, including copies that you mounted without
resignaturing. When you delete a datastore, it is destroyed and is removed from all
hosts.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Second assigned LUN ID
1. In the left pane, click the Storage tab and expand the vCenter Server instance and the Training
data center.
2. Right-click the PrivateVMFS-## datastore and select Delete Datastore.

## is the second LUN ID that is assigned to you.

3. When the Confirm Delete Datastore message appears, click Yes and wait for the task
to complete.
4. Click the Refresh icon in the vSphere Client Web and verify that the datastore was
removed from the inventory.

Task 5: Extend a VMFS Datastore

You can dynamically increase the capacity of a VMFS datastore when extra storage space is needed.
This task uses a second LUN to extend the size of a datastore based on the first LUN.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.

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Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• First assigned LUN ID
• Second assigned LUN ID

1. Right-click the PrivateVMFS-## datastore and click Increase Datastore Capacity. The Increase Datastore
Capacity wizard starts.
On the Select Device page, select your second assigned LUN.
2. On the Select Device page, select your second assigned LUN and click Next.
3. On the Specify Configuration page, select Use all available partitions from the
Partition Configuration drop-down menu and click Next.

4. On the Ready to Complete page, review the information and click Finish.
5. When the task completes, select Device Backing and verify that two extents appear in the Extent Name
pane.
The Extent Name pane should show both of your assigned LUN IDs.
You might need to adjust the size of the Extend Name pane for the full view of all extent names.
The screenshot shows the two extents listed in the Extent Name pane and the slider to adjust the size of the
pane.

6. Click the Summary tab.

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7. Record the new value for Total Capacity on the Summary tab. The value
should differ from the value recorded in task 2, step 21.
8. Right-click your first PrivateVMFS-## datastore in the inventory and select Rename.
9. In the Enter the new name text box, enter VMFS-##.
## is your assigned ESXi host number.
10. Click OK.
11. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.

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Lab 12
Using Templates and Clones

Objective: Deploy a new virtual machine from a template

and clone a virtual machine
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create a Virtual Machine Template

2. Create Customization Specifications

3. Deploy a Virtual Machine from a Template

4. Clone a Powered-On Virtual Machine

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Task 1: Create a Virtual Machine Template
You can create a template to securely preserve a virtual machine configuration and easily deploy
new virtual machines from the template.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
1. open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates.

3. In the inventory, expand Training and LabVMs.

4. Right-click the your_name##-1 virtual machine and select Power > Shut Down Guest OS.

5. Click Yes to confirm and wait for the virtual machine to power off.

6. Right-click the your_name##-1 virtual machine and select Template > Convert to Template.

7. Click Yes to confirm the conversion.

8. Right-click the your_name##-1 virtual machine template and select Move To.

9. Select VM Folders > Templates and click OK.

10. Expand the Templates folder, right-click the your_name##-1 virtual machine template, and
click Rename.
11. Enter your_name-Template and click OK.

Task 2: Create Customization Specifications

You can save the guest operating system settings in a customization specification file,
which is applied when you clone virtual machines or deploy virtual machines from
templates.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.

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Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Virtual machine administrator password
• Time zone
1. Go to the vSphere Client Web Home page.

2. In the Menu icon, select Policies and Profiles.

3. Select Customization Specification Manager and click the New icon.

The New VM Guest Customization Spec wizard appears.

4. On the Specify Properties page, verify that Windows is selected from the
Target VM Operating System drop-down menu.
5. In the Customization Spec Name text box, enter your_name-CustomSpec and click Next.

6. On the Set Registration Information page, enter VMware Student in the Name
text box and enter VMware in the Organization text box.
7. Click Next.

8. On the Set Computer Name page, click Use the virtual machine name and click Next.

9. On the Enter Windows License page, leave the product key text box blank, leave
other settings at their defaults, and click Next.
10. On the Set Administrator Password page, enter the virtual machine administrator
password and confirm it.
11. Leave the Automatically logon as Administrator check box deselected and click Next.

12. On the Time Zone page, select the time zone from the Time Zone: UTC+7 drop-down menu and
click
Next.
13. On the Run Once page, leave default, click Next.
14. On the Configure Network page, verify that Use standard network settings for the guest
operating system, including enabling DHCP on all network interfaces is clicked and click
Next.
15. On the Set Workgroup or Domain page, verify that Workgroup is clicked and that the text box
shows WORKGROUP, click Next
16. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

17. In the Customization Specification Manager pane, verify that your_name-CustomSpec is listed.

Task 3: Deploy a Virtual Machine from a Template

Using templates, you can rapidly deploy and provision new virtual machines and easily customize
the guest operating systems.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Shared VMFS datastore for virtual machines
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates and expand the view of the
inventory.
2. Right-click your_name-Template inside Templates folder and select New VM from this
Template. The Deploy From Template wizard starts.
3. On the Select a name and folder page, enter Your_name##-2.
## is your assigned ESXi host number.
For example, if Mike’s ESXi host is named ESXi01, the name of this virtual machine is
Mike01-2.
4. In the Select a location for the virtual machine pane, expand the inventory tree, select the
LabVMs folder, and click Next.

5. On the Select a compute resource page, expand the view of the Lab servers folder and select
your ESXi host.
The Compatibility pane should read “Compatibility checks succeeded.”
6. Click Next.
7. On the Select storage page, select your local VMFS datastore (VMFS-##) and
select virtual disk format: Thin Provision, click Next.

8. On the Select clone options page, select the Customize the operating system

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and the Power on virtual machine after creation check boxes and click Next.
9. On the Customize guest OS page, select your_name-CustomSpec and click Next.
10. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

11. Waiting the creating VM process completed, and the VM power ON, then repeat steps 3
through 12 to create another virtual machine and name it your_name##-3.
## is your assigned ESXi host number.
12. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the progress of the template deployment task
and wait for completion.
13. Open a remote console for each of your virtual machines.
a. In the left pane, select a virtual machine.

b. In the center pane, click Launch Remote Console.

c. If necessary, click Connect Anyway on the Invalid Security Certificate window.

14. Wait until the virtual machine has completed its system preparation
15. Click the Ctrl+Alt+Del icon and log in with the virtual machine administrator password.

16. Verify that VMware Tools™ is installed and that the cpubusy and iometer files
are in the root of the C: drive on each virtual machine.
17. Close the virtual machine consoles.

Task 4: Clone a Powered-On Virtual Machine

You can clone a virtual machine to create a new virtual machine with the same virtual hardware,
installed software, configuration, and other properties. The original virtual machine can be powered
on, off, or suspended.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Local VMFS datastore for virtual machines
1. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine and select Clone > Clone to Virtual Machine.

The Clone Existing Virtual Machine wizard starts.

2. On the Select a name and folder page, enter Hot-Clone## in the Enter a name for the
virtual machine text box.
## is the number of your ESXi host.
For example, Mike has an ESXi host named ESXi01. The name of this virtual machine is Hot-
Clone01.
3. Under Select a location for the virtual machine, select Training > LabVMs and click Next.

4. On the Select a compute resource page, select Training > Lab Servers > your_ESXi_host and
click Next.
5. On the Select storage page, select the local datastore for this virtual machine and click Next.

6. On the Select clone options page, select the Customize the operating system and the Power
on virtual machine after creation check boxes.
7. Click Next.

8. On the Customize guest OS page, select your_name-CustomSpec and click Next.

9. Review the information and click Finish.

10. Monitor the progress of the task in the Recent Tasks pane.

11. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.
Lab 13

13
Modifying Virtual Machines

Objective: Modify a virtual machine’s hardware and add

a raw LUN to a virtual machine
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Increase the Size of a VMDK File

2. Adjust Memory Allocation on a Virtual Machine

3. Rename a Virtual Machine in the vCenter Server Inventory

4. Add and Remove a Raw LUN on a Virtual Machine

Task 1: Increase the Size of a VMDK File

You can increase the size of a virtual machine’s local disk and configure the guest operating system
to detect the additional space.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• Virtual machine administrator password

Lab 13 Modifying Virtual Machines 61

1. Open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates.

3. In the left pane, expand the data center and folders.

4. Right-click your Hot-Clone## virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.

5. On the Virtual Hardware tab, record the size (GB) of hard disk 1.

6. In the Hard disk 1 text box, enter 15 (15 GB) to increase the disk size and click OK.

7. Configure the Hot-Clone## virtual machine’s guest operating system to detect and extend the
increased disk space.
a. In the left pane, select your Hot-Clone## virtual machine.
b. In the center pane, click Launch Remote Console and log in.
c. Click the Server Manager icon on the task bar.

d. In the left pane, select Storage and click the plus sign to expand the view.

e. In the left pane, select Disk Management.

f. Right-click Disk Management and select Rescan Disks

62 Lab 13 Modifying Virtual Machines

g. In the lower-right pane, verify that the 4 GB unallocated disk space is discovered.

h. Right-click the C: drive and select Extend Volume.

The Extend Volume wizard starts.

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i. Click Next.

j. On the Select Disks page, verify that Disk 0 is selected in the Selected pane and click Next.

k. On the Completing the Extend Volume Wizard page, review the information and click Finish.

8. In the Server Manager Disk Management window, verify that the local C: drive (Disk 0) is
extended and close the Server Manager window.
9. On the Hot-Clone## virtual machine’s desktop, click the Start menu and select Computer to
verify that the C: drive is extended.
a. Record the value for the total size of the C: drive.

b. Compare the value with that you recorded in task 1 step 5.

Q1. Has the size of the local hard disk (C: drive) increased?

c. Close the virtual machine console.

Task 2: Adjust Memory Allocation on a Virtual Machine
You can add, change, or configure virtual machine memory resources or options to enhance virtual
machine performance.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. Right-click the Hot-Clone## virtual machine in the inventory and select Power > Shut Down
Guest OS.
2. Click Yes to confirm the shutdown.

3. After the Hot-Clone## virtual machine is shut down, right-click it and select Edit Settings.

4. On the Virtual Hardware tab, enter 2 in the Memory text box and verify that GB is
selected from the drop-down menu.
5. Click OK.

6. Click the virtual machine’s Summary tab and expand the view of the VM Hardware pane to
verify that the memory has been increased.
7. Power ON the VM and verify memory has been increased inside OS.

Task 3: Rename a Virtual Machine in the vCenter Server Inventory

You can assign a new name to an existing virtual machine in the VMware vCenter Server™
Appliance™ inventory.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Virtual machine local datastore
1. Right-click the Hot-Clone## virtual machine in the inventory and select Rename.

2. In the Enter the new name text box, enter your_name##-4.

## is the number of your assigned VMware ESXi™ host.
For example, if Mike has a host named ESXi01, the name of his virtual machine is Mike01-4.
3. Click OK.

4. Select the your_name##-4 virtual machine from the inventory, click the Datastores tab.

5. Right-click the your_name##-4 virtual machine’s local datastore and select Browse Files.

Q1. What is the name of the your_name##-4 virtual machine’s folder?

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NOTE
When you change the name of a virtual machine, you change the name used to identify the
virtual machine in the vSphere Client Web inventory, not the name of the virtual machine’s
folder or files on the datastore.
The screenshot shows the name of the virtual machine’s folder.

Task 4: Add and Remove a Raw LUN on a Virtual Machine

You use raw device mapping (RDM) to enable a virtual machine to access a logical unit number
(LUN) directly.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Raw LUN ID
• Virtual machine administrator password
1. In the vSphere Client Web Navigator pane, click the VMs and Templates tab.
2. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine and select Edit Settings.
3. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select RDM Disk from the New Device drop-down menu and
click Add.

4. In the Select Target LUN dialog box, select the your raw LUN ID and click OK.

5. Click the arrow next to New Hard disk to expand the view.
6. From the Location drop-down menu, select Store with the virtual machine.
7. From the Compatibility Mode drop-down menu, select Virtual and click OK.

8. Verify that the guest operating system can see the new disk.
a. In the left pane, select the your_name##-2 virtual machine.
b. In the center pane, click Launch Remote Console and log in.
c. Click Start and select Administrative Tools > Computer Management.

d. Click Disk Management.

e. When the Initialize Disk wizard starts, click Cancel.

f. Verify that Disk 1 is listed.

68 Lab 12 Modifying Virtual Machines

NOTE
Disk 1 is the RDM. You can now use the guest operating system utilities to format the
drive. In this lab, you do not format the drive.
g. Close the Computer Management window.

9. Close the virtual machine console.

10. Remove the RDM hard disk from the your_name##-2 virtual machine.
a. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine and select Power > Shut Down Guest OS.

b. Wait for the virtual machine to power off.

c. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine and click Edit Settings.

d. On the Virtual Hardware tab, point to Hard disk 2.

e. Click the x button that appears at the right side of the row for Hard disk 2.

f. Select the Delete files from datastore check box to remove the disk and click OK.

68 Lab 12 Modifying Virtual Machines

Lab 14
Migrating Virtual Machines

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Objective: Use vSphere vMotion and vSphere Storage
vMotion to migrate virtual machines
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Migrate Virtual Machine Files from the Local Storage to the Shared Storage

2. Create a Virtual Switch and a VMkernel Port Group for vSphere vMotion Migration

3. Perform a vSphere vMotion Migration of a Virtual Machine on a Shared Datastore

4. Perform a Cross-Host vSphere Storage vMotion Migration to a Local Datastore

5. Prepare for the Next Lab

Task 1: Migrate Virtual Machine Files from the Local Storage to the
Shared Storage
With VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion®, you can migrate a virtual machine’s disk files from
one datastore to another while the virtual machine is running.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.

NOTE
Both students log in to the VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance™ simultaneously because some of
these tasks require cooperation. Communicate with your lab partner.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• Shared datastore
1. Open a Web browser and connect to the vCenter Server Appliance home page at
https://vcva01.vclass.local/ and log in.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates and expand the view of
the inventory.
3. Right-click the your_name##-4 virtual machine and select Power > Power On.

4. Select the your_name##-4 virtual machine in the inventory and click the Summary tab.

5. Expand the VM Hardware pane and record the name of the storage on which the virtual machine
reside_____________

6. In the inventory, right-click the your_name##-4 virtual machine and select Migrate.
The Migrate wizard starts.

7. On the Select the migration type page, click Change storage only and click Next.

8. On the Select storage page, select the your shared VMFS datastore as the
destination storage for the virtual machine files, and choose virtual disk format is
Thin Provision
Your Compatibility pane should show “Compatibility checks succeeded.”

9. If the compatibility checks fail, troubleshoot the problem based on the

message in the Compatibility pane, click Next.
10. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

11. Monitor the Recent Tasks pane and wait for the virtual machine relocation process

to complete. This task takes a few minutes.

12. Repeat steps 4 through 5 to verify that the your_name##-4 virtual machine

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is on the new datastore (the shared datastore).
Task 2: Create a Virtual Switch and a VMkernel Port Group for
vSphere vMotion Migration
You create a VMkernel port group virtual switch to move virtual machines from one
host to another while maintaining continuous service availability.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vmnic for the vSphere vMotion network
• vSphere vMotion IP IPv4 address/subnet mask
1. In the left pane, click the Hosts and Clusters tab.

2. Select your VMware ESXi™ host in the inventory, click the Configure tab, and click the
Networking tab.
3. Select Virtual switches and click the Add

networking icon. The Add Networking wizard starts.

4. On the Select connection type page, click VMkernel Network Adapter and click Next.

5. On the Select target device page, click New standard switch and click Next.

6. On the Create a Standard Switch page, click the green + sign to add a physical
adapter to the switch.
7. Select the vmnic3 for the vSphere vMotion network and click OK.
8. Review the information shown and click Next.

9. On the Port properties page for connection settings, enter vMotion in the Network label text
box, select the vMotion traffic check box, and click Next.
10. On the IPv4 settings page, click Use static IPv4 settings.

11. Enter the IPv4 address and the subnet mask information and click Next.

12. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

13. In the Virtual switches pane, verify that the new virtual switch for VMware vSphere®
vMotion® migration is listed.
Task 3: Perform a vSphere vMotion Migration of a Virtual Machine on a
Shared Datastore
You perform the live migration of virtual machines that reside on a shared storage that is accessible
to both the source and the target ESXi hosts.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Virtual machine administrator password
• Your partner’s ESXi host
1. In the vSphere Client Web Navigator pane, click the Hosts and Clusters tab and expand the
view of the inventory.
2. Click the arrow next to your ESXi host to expand the view.

3. Verify that all of your virtual machines are powered on.

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4. If any virtual machines are powered off, power them on.

5. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select Edit Settings.

6. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Client Device from the CD/DVD drive 1 drop-down menu.
7. Click the arrow next to Network adapter 1 to expand the view.

8. Verify that Production is selected from the drop-down menu and that the Connected and
Connect At Power On check boxes are selected.

9. Click OK.

10. Repeat steps 5 through 9 for your two other virtual machines.
11. In the left pane, select the your_name##-3 virtual machine.
12. In the center pane, click Launch Remote Console and log in.

13. On the task bar, select Start > Run.

14. In the Open text box, enter cmd and click OK.
15. In the Command Prompt window, enter the ipconfig command and
record the virtual machine’s default gateway IP address.
16. Enter the ping -t default_gateway command to start a continuous ping.
17. Leave the virtual machine console open and return to the vSphere Client Web.
18. Migrate the your_name##-3 virtual machine to your partner’s ESXi host.

a. In the vSphere Client Web inventory, right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and
select Migrate.
b. On the Select the migration type page, click Change compute resource only and click
Next.
c. On the Select a compute resource page, click the button for your partner’s ESXi host.
Your partner’s host is the destination host to which you migrate the your_name##-3 virtual
machine. The migration requirements are validated. If the validation does not succeed, you
receive warning or error messages. You cannot continue with the migration until the errors
are resolved.
d. Click Next.
e. On the Select network page, select Production from the list and click Next.

f. On the Select vMotion priority page, leave Schedule vMotion with high priority
(recommended) clicked and click Next.
g. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.
19. Return to the your_name##-3 virtual machine console and monitor that no pings are dropped
during the migration.
20. Press Ctrl+C to stop the ping and close the your_name##-3 virtual machine console.

21. In the left pane, continue to migrate your_name##-4 virtual machine to your partner’s ESXi
host.
22. When the migration tasks complete, view the inventory pane to verify that the your_name##-3
and the your_name##-4 virtual machines are on your partner’s host and that the your_name##-2
virtual machine is on your host.
Task 4: Perform a Cross-Host vSphere Storage vMotion Migration to a
Local Datastore
You can migrate virtual machines not only to a different host but also to a different datastore across
storage accessibility boundaries.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Your partner’s ESXi host
• Local datastore of your partner’s ESXi host
1. In the inventory, right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine and select Migrate.

2. On the Select the migration type page, click Change both compute resource and storage and
click Next.

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3. On the Select compute resource page, select Training > Lab Servers >
your_partner’s_ESXi_host.
Your partner’s ESXi host is the destination host to which you migrate the your_name##-2
virtual machine.
4. Click Next.

5. On the Select storage page, select the local datastore of your partner’s ESXi host and click
Next.
6. On the Select network page, select Production and click Next.

7. On the Select vMotion priority page, leave Schedule vMotion with high priority
(recommended) clicked and click Next.
8. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

9. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the progress of the virtual machine migration.

10. When the migration task completes, view the inventory pane to verify that the your_name##-2
virtual machine is listed under your partner’s ESXi host in the inventory.

Lab 14 Migrating Virtual Machines 75

Task 5: Prepare for the Next Lab
You migrate all your virtual machines back to your assigned host.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Your ESXi host
• Shared datastore
1. Migrate all of your virtual machines back to your own ESXi host.

a. In the inventory, right-click one of your virtual machines and select Migrate.

b. On the Select the migration type page, click Change both compute resource and storage
and click Next.
c. On the Select compute resource page, select Training > Lab Servers > your ESXi host
and click Next.
d. On the Select storage page, select your shared storage and click Next.

e. On the Select network page, select Production and click Next.

f. On the Select vMotion priority page, leave Schedule vMotion with high priority
(recommended) clicked and click Next.
g. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.

2. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the progress of the virtual machine migration and wait for the
completion.
3. In the inventory, verify that all your virtual machines appear under your ESXi host.

4. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.

76 Lab 14 Migrating Virtual Machines

Lab 15
Managing Virtual Machines

Objective: Perform virtual machine management tasks

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

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1. Unregister a Virtual Machine from the vCenter Server Appliance Inventory

2. Register a Virtual Machine in the vCenter Server Appliance Inventory

3. Unregister and Delete a Virtual Machine from the Disk

4. Take Snapshots of a Virtual Machine

5. Revert to a Snapshot

6. Delete an Individual Snapshot

7. Use the Delete All Function in the Snapshot Manager

Task 1: Unregister a Virtual Machine from the vCenter Server

Appliance Inventory
You unregister a virtual machine from the VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance™ inventory.
Unregistering does not delete the virtual machine from the datastore.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password

Lab 15 Managing Virtual Machines 77

1. Open a Web browser and connect to the vCenter Server Appliance home page at
https://vcva01.vclass.local/vsphere-client and log in.
2. On the vSphere Client Web, click Menu button, click VMs and Templates and expand the view of the
inventory.
3. Right click the your_name##-4, choose Edit Settings, choose VM Options tab, expand General Options.

4. Record the VMware vSphere® VMFS datastore name and folder of the virtual machine resides.
5. Right-click the your_name##-4 virtual machine and select Power > Shut Down Guest OS.

6. Click Yes to confirm the shutdown.

7. After the your_name##-4 virtual machine is shut down, right-click it and select Remove from
Inventory.

CAUTION
Do not select Delete from Disk. This operation is not recoverable.
8. Click Yes to confirm the removal.

9. Click the Refresh icon in vSphere Client Web.

10. Verify that the your_name##-4 virtual machine no longer appears in the inventory.

11. In the Navigator pane, click the Storage tab and expand the view.

12. Right-click the your_name##-4 virtual machine’s VMFS datastore and select Browse Files. You

recorded the VMFS datastore name in step 4.

13. View the folders.

Q1. Does a folder named your_name##-4 exist?

14. Open the your_name##-4 folder to view the virtual machine files.

Task 2: Register a Virtual Machine in the vCenter Server Appliance

Inventory
If you removed a virtual machine from the vCenter Server Appliance inventory but did not remove
it from the managed host’s datastore, you can return it to the inventory by registering it with the
vCenter Server Appliance.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the list of virtual machine files in the right pane, right-click the yourname##-4.vmx file and
select Register VM.
The screenshot shows an example selecting of Register VM.
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The Register Virtual Machine wizard starts.
2. On the Name and Location page, enter your_name##-5.
## is the number of your ESXi host.
3. In the Select inventory location pane, select the LabVMs folder and click Next.

4. On the Host/Cluster page, select your ESXi host and click Next.

5. On the Ready to Complete page, review the information and click Finish.

6. In the Navigator pane, click the VMs and Templates tab and verify that the your_name##-5
virtual machine is in the LabVMs folder.

Task 3: Unregister and Delete a Virtual Machine from the Disk

You can remove a virtual machine from the vCenter Server Appliance inventory and delete all associated
virtual machine files from the datastore, including the configuration file and the virtual disk files.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates and expand the view of the inventory.
2. Right click the your_name##-5, choose Edit Settings, choose VM Options tab, expand General Options.

3. Record the VMFS datastore name on which the virtual machine resides.
4. Right-click the your_name##-5 virtual machine, select Delete from Disk, and click Yes to confirm
the deletion.
5. Verify that the your_name##-5 virtual machine no longer appears in the inventory.
6. In the Navigator pane, click the Storage tab and expand the inventory view.
7. Right-click the VMFS datastore name and select Browse Files. You
recorded the VMFS datastore name in step 3.
8. Verify that the folder and files from which the your_name##-5 virtual machine was registered no longer
exist.
The folder has the original virtual machine name: your_name##-4.

Task 4: Take Snapshots of a Virtual Machine

You take a snapshot to preserve the state and the data of a virtual machine at the time the snapshot is taken. You
use snapshots when you must revert repeatedly to the same virtual machine state but do not want to create
multiple virtual machines.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Virtual machine administrator password
• Third-party software ISO image location
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates and expand the view of the inventory.
2. In the left pane, select the your_name##-3 virtual machine, and Power ON it.
3. In the center pane, click Launch Remote Console on the Summary tab.
4. If necessary, log in as the virtual machine administrator and enter the password.

5. Open My Computer and browse to C:\ and click OK.

6. Resize the window as needed so that the files in C:\ and the Recycle Bin are visible.
7. Drag the iometer file to the Recycle Bin.
8. To completely remove the iometer file, right-click the Recycle Bin icon and select Empty
Recycle Bin.
9. Click Yes to confirm the file deletion and leave the virtual machine console open.
10. In the vSphere Client Web, right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select
Snapshots > Take Snapshot.
The Take VM Snapshot wizard starts.
11. Configure the snapshot.

Option Value

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Name Enter Without iometer.

Description Enter Deleted iometer.

Snapshot the virtual machine’s memory Deselect the check box.

Quiesce guest file system (Needs VMware Tools Leave the check box deselected.
installed)

12. Click OK and monitor the task in the Recent Tasks pane.

13. Return to the virtual machine console and drag the cpubusy file to the Recycle Bin.

14. To completely remove the cpubusy file, right-click the Recycle Bin icon and select Empty
Recycle Bin.
15. Click Yes to confirm the file deletion and leave the virtual machine console open.
16. Return to the vSphere Client Web.

17. In the inventory pane, right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select Snapshots >
Take Snapshot take another snapshot.
18. Configure the snapshot.

Option Value
Name Enter Without iometer or cpubusy.

Description Enter Deleted cpubusy.

Snapshot the virtual machine’s memory Deselect the check box.

Quiesce guest file system (Needs VMware Leave the check box deselected.
Tools installed)

19. Click OK and monitor the task in the Recent Tasks pane.

20. Connect the ClassFiles-vSphere.iso file on the CD/DVD drive to the your_name##-3
virtual machine.
a. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select Edit Settings.

b. On the Virtual Hardware tab, select Datastore ISO File from the CD/DVD drive 1 drop-
down menu.
c. Select the Classfiles-vSphere.iso file and click OK.

d. Select the Connected check box.

e. Click OK to close the Edit Settings dialog box.

21. Return to the your_name##-3 virtual machine console.

22. If the CD Drive does not open automatically, open Windows Explorer and go to the CD Drive

23. Copy the cpubusy file from the CD Drive to the virtual machine’s desktop.
24. Disconnect the CD/DVD drive from your_name##-3 virtual machine.

a. From the vSphere Client Web, right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select
Edit Settings.
b. On the Virtual Hardware tab, click the arrow next to CD/DVD drive 1 to expand the
view.
c. Select Client Device from the drop-down menu and click OK.
25. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and take another snapshot by select Snapshots
> Take Snapshot to take another snapshot.
26. Configure the snapshot.

Option Action
Name Enter With cpubusy.

Description Enter Added cpubusy.

Snapshot the virtual machine’s memory Leave the check box selected.

Quiesce guest file system (Needs VMware Tools Leave the check box deselected.
installed).

Lab 15 Managing Virtual Machines 83

27. Click OK.

28. Monitor the task in the Recent Tasks pane and wait for completion.

29. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select Snapshots > Manage Snapshots.

You should see three snapshots. The difference in icons is due to whether the

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Snapshot the virtual machine’s memory check box was selected when the
snapshot was taken.

30. Leave the Snapshot Manager open.

31. Close the your_name##-3 virtual machine console.

Task 5: Revert to a Snapshot

You can return a virtual machine to the state it had at the time the selected snapshot was taken.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Virtual machine administrator password
84 Lab 15 Managing Virtual Machines
1. Verify that the your_name##-3 virtual machine is powered on.
2. In the Snapshot Manager, select the Without iometer or cpubusy snapshot and click Revert to.
3. Click Yes to confirm the reversion.
4. Click Close to close the Snapshot Manager.

Q1. Did the virtual machine power off, and what is the reason?

5. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine in the inventory and select Power > Power On.
6. Launch a remote console to the your_name##-3 virtual machine and wait for the boot process to
finish.
7. If necessary, log in as the administrator with the password.

Q2. Is either iometer or cpubusy on the local disk (C:)?

8. Close the your_name##-3 virtual machine console.

9. In the vSphere Client Web, right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select
Snapshots > Manage Snapshots.
The You Are Here pointer should be below the snapshot named Without iometer or cpubusy.

84 Lab 15 Managing Virtual Machines

10. In the Snapshot Manager, select the With cpubusy snapshot and click Revert to.

11. Click Yes to confirm the reversion.

12. Click Close to close the Snapshot Manager.

Q3. Did the virtual machine power off, and what is the reason?

13. Open a remote console for the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

Q4. Is cpubusy on the desktop?

Q5. Is iometer on the desktop?

14. Minimize the your_name##-3 virtual machine console.

Task 6: Delete an Individual Snapshot

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You can remove a snapshot from the Snapshot Manager. The snapshot files are consolidated and
written to the parent snapshot disk.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select Snapshots > Manage Snapshots.
The You Are Here pointer should be below the snapshot named With cpubusy.
2. In the Snapshot Manager, select the Without iometer or cpubusy snapshot and click Delete.
3. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.
4. Click Close to close the Snapshot Manager.

Q1. Did the virtual machine power off?

Q2. Is cpubusy on the desktop?

Lab 15 Managing Virtual Machines 85

Task 7: Use the Delete All Function in the Snapshot Manager
You can use the Delete All function to commit all the intermediate snapshots before the current
state.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the vSphere Client Web, right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select
Snapshots > Manage Snapshots.
2. Click Delete All and click Yes to confirm that you want to delete all the remaining snapshots.

The You Are Here pointer should be below the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

Q1. Were all the remaining snapshots deleted from the Snapshot Manager?

3. Click Close to close the Snapshot Manager.

4. Return to the your_name##-3 virtual machine console.

Q2. Is cpubusy on the desktop, and why?

5. Close the your_name##-3 virtual machine console.

6. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.

86 Lab 15 Managing Virtual Machines

Lab 16
Managing vApps

Objective: Perform vApp management tasks

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create a vApp

2. Power On a vApp

3. Remove a vApp

15

Lab 16 Managing vApps 87

Task 1: Create a vApp
You use VMware vSphere® vApp™ as a container that holds a group of virtual machines. You
perform resource controls and manage the virtual machines inside the vApp as a single object.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
1. Open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates and expand the view of
the inventory.
3. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine and select Power > Shut Down Guest OS.

4. Click Yes to confirm the shutdown.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to shut down the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

6. Wait until both virtual machines are completely powered off.

7. Go to the vSphere Client Web Home page and select your ESXi host, right-click and choose
New vApp
8. Click the Create a New vApp icon.

The New vApp wizard starts.

9. On the Select a creation type page, select Create a new vApp and click Next.
10. On the Select a name and location page, enter your_name-vApp in the vApp
name text box, select the LabVMs folder, and click Next.
11. On the Resource allocation page, leave the default settings and click Next.

12. On the Ready to complete page, review the information and click Finish.
13. Go to the vSphere Client Web Home page and click the Hosts and Clusters icon.

14. Expand the inventory view and verify that your_name-vApp is listed under your ESXi host.
15. Create four blank payload virtual machines to use in this lab.

a. In the left pane, right-click your_name-vApp and select New Virtual

Machine > Create a new Virtual Machine.
b. On the Select a name and folder page, enter your_name-App01 in the
name text box, select the LabVMs folder, and click Next.
c. On the Select a compute resource page, select the your_name-vApp and click Next.
d. On the Select storage page, select your shared storage and click Next.

e. On the Select compatibility page, accept the defaults and click Next.

f. On the Select a guest OS page, choose Guest OS: Windows, Windows Server 2008
(32bit) and click Next.

g. Configure the virtual machine with the following changes.

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• CPU 1
• Memory 256 MB
• New hard disk 100 MB

h. Click Next.

i. Click Finish.

16. After the virtual machine completes deployment, create three clones of the
virtual machine named your_name-App02 through your_name-App04.
a. In the left pane, click the arrow to expand the your_name-vApp.
b. Right-click the your_name-App02 virtual machine and select Clone >
Clone to Virtual machine.
c. On the Select a name and folder page, enter your_name-App## in the
name text box, select the LabVMs folder, and click Next.
The ## represents the numbers 02, 03, or 04, depending on which iteration of
the clone sequence you are performing.
d. On the Select a compute resource page, select the your_name-vApp and click Next.
e. On the Select storage page, select your shared storage and click Next.

f. On the Select clone option page, accept the defaults and click Next.

g. On the Ready to complete page, click Finish.

h. Repeat steps a through g until you have a total of four virtual machines named
your_name- App-01 through your_name-App04.
17. In the inventory, select your_name-vApp

Q1. Do you see four virtual machines in the Virtual Machines list in the content pane?

18. Right-click your_name-vApp and select Edit Settings.

19. Click the arrow next to Start Order to expand the view.

20. Select the your_name-App04 virtual machine and click the up arrow once to place the virtual
machine in group 3.
The your_name-App03 and your_name-App04 virtual machines are now in group 3.
21. Select the your_name-App02 virtual machine and change the value in the Startup sequence
proceeds when text box from 120 to 20 (seconds) and press Enter.
22. Select the your_name-App01 virtual machine and change the value in the Startup sequence
proceeds when text box from 120 to 20 (seconds) and press Enter.
You must press Enter each time that you change the time delay for each virtual machine.
Otherwise, the time resets to its previous value.
23. Click OK.

Task 2: Power On a vApp

You can power on, power off, or clone a
vApp. Students perform the steps in this
task individually.
1. Right-click your_name-vApp in the inventory and select Power > Power On.
2. Monitor the tasks in the Recent Tasks pane.

Q1. Do the virtual machines power on at the same time?

Task 3: Remove a vApp

You can completely remove a vApp from the vCenter Server Appliance inventory as
well as from the disk.
When working in a production setting, you must remove your virtual machines as
described in the task because deleting a vApp from the disk also deletes all virtual
machines in the vApp.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the Navigator pane, click the Hosts and Clusters tab.

2. Right-click your_name-vApp in the inventory and select Power > Shut Down.

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3. Click Yes to confirm the shutdown.

4. Expand the view of your_name-vApp in the inventory.

5. After all four virtual machines are no longer powered on, right-click
your_name-vApp and select Delete from Disk.
6. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

7. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.
Lab 17
Managing Resource Pools

Objective: Create and use resource pools on an ESXi

host by using vCenter Server
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create CPU Contention

2. Create Resource Pools

3. Verify Resource Pool Functionality

Task 1: Create CPU Contention

You use a tool to create CPU contention in your lab environment for testing. You force the virtual

17
machines to compete for and share the limited logical CPU resources on the VMware ESXi™ host,
which might lead to performance degradation.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• Virtual machine administrator password

Lab 17 Managing Resource Pools 93

1. Open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of the inventory.

3. Shutdown your_name##-2 and your_name##-3 virtual machines.

4. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
5. On the Virtual Hardware tab, click the arrow next to CPU to expand the view.

6. In the Scheduling Affinity text box, enter 1.

This affinity setting forces the your_name##-2 virtual machine to run on only one processor (processor 1).

7. Click OK.

CAUTION
CPU affinity is used mainly to create CPU contention for training purposes. Use of this
feature in a production environment is strongly discouraged.
8. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.

9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 for the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

10. Power on the your_name##-2 and your_name##-3 virtual machines and verify that they are running on
your host.
11. Start the cpubusy script on both virtual machines.
a. Open a remote console for the your_name##-2 virtual machines and log in.

b. Open My Computer

c. Browse to C:\, right-click the cpubusy.vbs script and select Open with Command Prompt.
This script runs continuously. It will stabilize in 1 to 2 minutes. This script repeatedly does floating-
point computations. The script displays the duration (wall-clock time) of a computation. For example:
“I did three million sines in 2 seconds.”
You can use the number of seconds reported as a performance estimate. The program should run at
about the same rate in each virtual machine.
d. Repeat steps a through c on the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

12. Allow the cpubusy script to run for a minute or two.

Task 2: Create Resource Pools

You use resource pools to delegate control over resources of the host or a cluster and to
compartmentalize all resources in a cluster.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the vSphere Client Web, right-click your ESXi host in the inventory and select
New Resource Pool.
2. Assign properties to the resource pool.

Option Action
Name Enter Fin-Test.
CPU Shares Select Low from the drop-down menu.
All other settings Leave the default settings.

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3. Click OK.

4. Right-click your ESXi host in the inventory and select New Resource Pool.

5. Assign properties to the resource pool.

Option Action
Name Enter Fin-Prod.
CPU Shares Select High from the drop-down menu.
All other settings Leave the default settings.

6. Click OK.
Task 3: Verify Resource Pool Functionality
You assign virtual machines to resource pools with different resource settings to monitor and
compare the performance differences.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. In the vSphere Client Web, select the Fin-Test resource pool in the inventory and click the
Summary tab.
2. In the Resource Settings pane, click the arrow next to CPU to expand the view.

Q1. What is the number of shares for this resource pool?

3. Select Fin-Prod in the inventory and click the Summary tab.

4. View the Resource Settings pane.

Q2. What is the number of shares for this resource pool?

5. Drag the your_name##-2 virtual machine to the Fin-Prod resource pool.

6. Drag the your_name##-3 virtual machine to the Fin-Test resource pool.
7. In each virtual machine consoles, monitor the results of the cpubusy script.

Q3. What is the difference in performance between the two virtual machines?

8. Change the CPU shares of the Fin-Test resource pool from Low to Normal.
a. In the vSphere Client Web, right-click the Fin-Test resource pool in the inventory and click
Settings.
b. Verify that CPU Resources is selected and click Edit.
c. Select Normal from the Shares drop-down menu and click OK.
9. In each virtual machine console, allow the script to run for a few seconds and compare the
performance of the cpubusy script on each virtual machine.
When contention occurs, you see a difference in performance between the virtual machines.
10. In both virtual machine consoles, press Ctrl+C to stop the cpubusy.vbs script.
11. Repeat step 8 to change CPU shares for the Fin-Prod resource pool from High to Normal.
12. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.
Lab 18
Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance

Objective: Demonstrate that system-monitoring tools

reflect CPU workload
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create CPU Workload

2. Use Performance Charts to Monitor CPU Utilization

3. Undo Changes Made to the Virtual Machines

Task 1: Create CPU Workload

You run the cpubusy script in each virtual machine to create heavy CPU workload in your lab
environment for testing.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:

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• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• Virtual machine administrator password

Lab 18 Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance 97

1. Open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at https://vcva01.vclass.local
or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click VMs and Templates and expand the view of the inventory.

3. Open remote consoles and, if necessary, log in to the your_name##-2 and your_name##-3 virtual
machines.
4. On each virtual machine, right-click the cpubusy script file and select Open with Command Prompt.

On your_name##-2, the cpubusy script is in the C:\ directory. On your_name##-3, the

cpubusy script is on the desktop.

Task 2: Use Performance Charts to Monitor CPU Utilization

You use the performance charts to monitor CPU, memory, disk, network, and storage metrics. Students perform
the steps in this task individually.
1. In the vSphere Client Web, select the your_name##-2 virtual machine in the inventory.

2. Click the Monitor tab and click the Performance tab.

3. Select Advanced.

The real-time CPU usage graph appears.

4. Click the Chart Options link.

The Chart Options dialog box appears.

5. In the Chart Metrics pane, verify that CPU is selected.
6. Verify that Real-time is selected from the Timespan drop-down menu.
7. In the Target Objects pane on the right, deselect the your_name##-2 virtual machine check box.

8. In the Select counters for this chart pane, click None to deselect all counters.

9. In the same pane, select the Ready and Used check boxes and click OK.

The CPU/Real-time chart for the your_name##-2 virtual machine appears.

10. Open a new tab in your Web browser and click the vSphere Client Web

shortcut. You are not required to re-enter your connection credentials.

11. In the new vSphere Client Web, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view.

12. Select the your_name##-3 virtual machine in the inventory.

13. Repeat steps 2 through 9 to configure the CPU Performance graph for the your_name##-3
virtual machine.
14. In the Web browser window for each virtual machine, point to the end of the line graph to view
the current CPU ready value.
15. Record the current CPU ready value for each virtual machine.
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• your_name##-2
• your_name##-3

Leave the Performance Chart windows open.

16. In each virtual machine console, press Ctrl+C in the Command Prompt window to stop the
cpubusy.vbs script.

CAUTION
This script must be stopped in each virtual machine. If the script is left running, it affects
the next lab.
17. In the Web browser window for each virtual machine, point to the end of the line graph to view
the current CPU ready value.
18. Wait for the chart to be updated.

Performance charts update every 20 seconds.

Q1. Did the CPU ready value change and, if it did, what is the reason for the
change?

Task 3: Undo Changes Made to the Virtual Machines

You revert the configuration changes made to each virtual machine.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. Close the second vSphere Client Web tab and the two virtual machine consoles.

2. Shutdown two virtual machines.

3. Remove the scheduling affinity value on the your_name##-2 virtual machine.

a. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.

b. On the Virtual Hardware tab, click the arrow next to CPU to expand the view.

c. In the Scheduling Affinity text box, delete the value 1 and click OK.
4. Repeat step 2 to remove the scheduling affinity value on the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

5. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.

100 Lab 18 Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance

Lab 19
Using Alarms

Objective: Demonstrate the vCenter Server Appliance

alarm feature
In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create a Virtual Machine Alarm to Monitor a Condition

2. Trigger Virtual Machine Alarms

3. Create a Virtual Machine Alarm to Monitor an Event

4. Trigger the Virtual Machine Alarm

5. Disable Virtual Machine Alarms

Task 1: Create a Virtual Machine Alarm to Monitor a Condition

You create and use alarms to respond to selected events, conditions, and states that occur with
objects in the inventory.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
19

• vCenter Single Sign-On password

Lab 19 Using Alarms 101

1. Open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of the inventory.

3. Right-click the your_name##-2 virtual machine in the inventory and select Alarms > New Alarm
Definition.

The New Alarm Definition wizard starts.

NOTE
Because you are creating an alarm for the your_name##-2 virtual machine, this alarm monitors only that
virtual machine. If you set the alarm on an object higher in the VMware vCenter Server™ inventory, the
alarm applies to multiple virtual machines. For example, if you create an alarm on the vCenter Server
Appliance object itself, the alarm applies to all virtual machines.
4. On the General page, enter VM CPU Usage - your_name in the Alarm name text box and click
Next.
5. On the Alarm Rule 1 page, define the trigger condition.

If VM CPU Usage is above 50% for 30 seconds, then trigger the alarm and show the alarm as Warning.
a. From the first drop-down menu, select VM CPU Usage.

b. From the select an operator drop-down menu, select is above.

c. In the % text box, enter 50.

d. From the last drop-down menu, select 30 sec.

e. From the select severity drop-down menu, select Show as Warning.

f. The alarm rule should look like this:

Lab 19 Using Alarms 107

g. Click NEXT.

6. On the Reset Rule 1 page, read the rule and do not change anything.

The reset rule is to reset the alarm to Normal if the warning condition is no longer met.
7. Click NEXT.

8. Select the your_name##-2 virtual machine in the inventory and click the Monitor tab.
9. Under the Configure tab, click the Setting tab and select Alarm Definitions.
10. Verify that the VM CPU Usage - your_name alarm appears in the alarm list for the your_name##-2
virtual machine.
h. Verify that the VM CPU Usage alarm appears in the alarm list.
i. If you cannot easily find the alarm, use the filter in the Alarm Name column and search for some or all of
the alarm name.

Lab 19 Using Alarms 107

Task 2: Trigger Virtual Machine Alarms
You acknowledge an alarm to discontinue it and inform others that you are taking ownership of the
issue. Your acknowledged alarms are still visible in the system. The alarms are neither cleared or
reset.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.

1. Generate CPU activity in Your_name## to trigger the Your_name## CPU Usage alarm.

a. In Your_name##-2's Summary tab, click the Launch Web Console link to open the VM web console.

b. Browse to C:\ Drive, right-click CPUBUSY.VBS and select Open with Command Prompt.

The CPUBUSY script should generate enough activity to reach more 50 percent CPU usage.
2. Return to the vSphere Client.

3. Verify that the Your_name##-2 CPU Usage alarm is triggered.

a. Click Your_name##-2's Monitor tab, and select Triggered Alarms under Issues and Alarms.

b. Wait for at least 30 seconds and refresh the Triggered Alarms pane.

c. Verify that the VM CPU Usage - your_name alarm appears in the Triggered Alarms list.

4. In the right pane under Tasks and Events, select Events.

An entry states that the VM CPU Usage - your_name alarm changed from green to yellow.
Acknowledge the triggered alarm.
a. In the right pane under Issues and Alarms, click Triggered Alarms.

b. Select the check box next to VM CPU Usage - your_name.

c. Click ACKNOWLEDGE.

The Triggered Alarms pane shows the time that the alarm was acknowledged and the user that
acknowledged the alarm.
Lab 19 Using Alarms 107
6. Stop the CPUBUSY script.

a. Return to the Your_name##-2 console tab.

b. Close the Command Prompt window to stop the CPUBUSY script.

7. Verify that Your_name##-2 returns to a normal state.

a. Return to the vSphere Client.

b. Refresh the Triggered Alarms pane and verify that the VM CPU Usage - your_name alarm no longer
appears.
You might have to wait a minute for CPU usage to decrease.
c. In the navigation pane, verify that Your_name##-2's icon does not show the warning symbol.

d. In the right pane under Tasks and Events, select Events.

An entry states that the VM CPU Usage - your_name alarm changed from yellow to green.

8. Close the Your_name##-2 console tab.

Task 3: Create a Virtual Machine Alarm to Monitor an Event

You create an alarm to monitor an event that occurs on any virtual machine inDatacenter.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.

1. In the navigation pane, select your Datacenter and click the Configure tab in the right pane.

2. In the Alarm Definitions pane, click ADD.

The New Alarm Definition wizard starts.
3. On the Name and Targets page, configure the alarm name and target type.

a. Enter VM Suspended in the Alarm Name text box.

b. Select Virtual Machines from the Target type drop-down menu.

The target objects are all virtual machines in Datacenter.

c. Click NEXT.

4. On the Alarm Rule 1 page, define the trigger condition.

If a VM is suspended, then trigger an alarm, and show the alarm as Warning. a. From the first

drop-down menu, select VM suspended.

The VM suspended event appears under the Power and Connection State category.
Lab 19 Using Alarms 107
b. From the select severity drop-down menu, select Show as Warning.

The alarm rule should look like this:

c. Click NEXT.

Configure the reset rule.

If the VM is powered on, then reset the alarm to normal.
a. On the Reset Rule 1 page, enable Reset the alarm to green by clicking the toggle switch.

b. Click the first drop-down menu and enter powered in the Search box.

c. Select VM powered on from the search results.

The reset rule should look like this:

Lab 19 Using Alarms 107

d. Click NEXT.

6. On the Review page, review the alarm information.

The alarm is enabled by default.

7. Click CREATE.

8. Verify that the alarm definition is created.

a. If you cannot easily find the alarm, use the filter in the Alarm Name column and search for some or all of
the alarm name.

Task 4: Trigger the Virtual Machine Alarm

You trigger the virtual machine alarm, reset the virtual machine alarm, and view the events that occurred when the
alarm was triggered.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.

1. Trigger the VM Suspended alarm by suspending Your_name##-2.

a. In the navigation pane, right-click Your_name##-2 and select Power > Suspend.

b. Click YES to confirm suspending the VM.

2. Verify that the VM Suspended alarm is triggered.

a. In the navigation pane, select Datacenter.

b. In the right pane, click the Monitor tab and under Issues and Alarms, select Triggered Alarms.

c. Monitor the Recent Tasks pane and wait for the Suspend virtual machine task to complete.

d. Refresh the Triggered Alarms pane.

e. Verify that the VM Suspended alarm appears in the Triggered Alarms list.

3. Power on Your_name##-2.

a. In the navigation pane, right-click Your_name##-2 and select Power > Power On.
Lab 19 Using Alarms 107
4. Verify that Your_name##-2 has returned to a normal state.

a. In the navigation pane, verify that Your_name##-2's icon does not show the warning symbol.
b. Refresh the Triggered Alarms pane.

The VM Suspended alarm no longer appears in the list.

c. Under Tasks and Events, select Events.

You should see an entry stating that the VM Suspended alarm changed from yellow to green.

Task 5: Disable Virtual Machine Alarms

You disable the VM CPU Usage and the VM Suspended alarms.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.

1. Disable the VM CPU Usage - your_name alarm.

a. In the navigation pane, select Your_name##-2 VM.

b. Click the Configure tab and select Alarm Definitions.

c. Search for the “VM CPU Usage” alarm.

If necessary, use the filter in the Alarm Name column to search for the alarm.

d. Click VM CPU Usage - your_name and click DISABLE.

e. Verify that the VM CPU Usage - your_name alarm is disabled.

2. Repeat step 1 to disable the VM Suspended alarm.

Perform this step on the Datacenter object because the alarm is defined on this object.

Lab 19 Using Alarms 107

Lab 19 Using Alarms 107
20
Lab 20
Using vSphere HA

Objective: Demonstrate vSphere HA functionality

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create a Cluster Enabled for vSphere HA

2. Add Your ESXi Host to a Cluster

3. Test vSphere HA Functionality

4. View the vSphere HA Cluster Resource Usage

5. Manage vSphere HA Slot Size

6. Configure a vSphere HA Cluster with Strict Admission Control

7. Prepare for Upcoming Labs

126 Lab 20 Using vSphere HA

Task 1: Create a Cluster Enabled for vSphere HA
You create a VMware vSphere® High Availability cluster to group multiple VMware ESXi™ hosts
together, to achieve higher levels of virtual machine availability than each ESXi host can provide
individually.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
1. Open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of
the inventory.
3. Right-click the Training data center and select New Cluster.
The New Cluster dialog box appears.
4. Configure the new cluster.

Option Action
Name Enter Lab Cluster.

DRS Leave the check box deselected.

vSphere HA Select the Turn on check box.

5. Leave the default settings for the other options and click OK.

6. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the progress as the cluster is created.

126 Lab 20 Using vSphere HA

Task 2: Add Your ESXi Host to a Cluster

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You plan the resources and networking architecture of your cluster, add hosts to it, and specify the
vSphere HA settings.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of
the inventory.
2. Select Lab Servers > your_ESXi_host.

3. Drag your ESXi host to the Lab Cluster inventory object.

Your existing resource pools are collapsed into the cluster root resource pool.
4. Monitor the Recent Tasks pane and wait for the Configuring vSphere HA task to complete.
If the tasks do not appear in the Recent tasks pane, you can find them in the Task Console.
5. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the vSphere HA tab.

The vSphere HA summary information appears.

6. Notice the name of the master host and record the name of the other host (the slave host).

7. Review the content and record the slave host.

It might take a few minutes for the vSphere Client Web to fully update.

Q1. Does the number of protected virtual machines match the number of virtual
machines in the cluster?

8. Select Heartbeat.

Q2. How many datastores are used for heartbeating?

Lab 20 Using vSphere HA 127

9. Select Configuration Issues and review the errors that are listed.

At this point, each ESXi host has a single management network port for redundancy. vSphere
HA still works if an ESXi host is configured with one management network port, but a second
management network port is necessary for redundancy.

10. Select your ESXi host in the inventory, click the Configure tab, and click the Networking tab.

11. Select VMKernel Adapters and select the vMotion VMkernel adapter.

12. Click the Edit Settings icon.

13. On the Port properties page, select the Management Traffic check box and click OK.

14. Right-click your ESXi host and select Reconfigure for vSphere HA.

15. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory.

Q3. Did the previous management configuration error disappear?

Task 3: Test vSphere HA Functionality

You set up vSphere HA to monitor the data center environment and detect hardware and guest
operating system failures. When an ESXi host outage is detected, vSphere HA automatically restarts
virtual machines on other ESXi hosts in the cluster.
Do this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
1. In the inventory, select the master ESXi host that you recorded in task 2, step 7.
2. Click the VMs tab.

3. Record the name of one or more powered-on virtual machines on the master host.

128 Lab 21 Using vSphere HA

4. Simulate a host failure by rebooting one of the hosts in the cluster.

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You must reboot the system, not shut down the system.
a. Right-click the master ESXi host and select Power > Reboot.

A warning message appears stating that you chose to reboot the host, which is not in
maintenance mode.
b. Enter Testing vSphere HA as the reason for rebooting and click OK.
5. In the inventory, select Lab Cluster, click the Monitor tab, click the Tasks & Events and select Events in
the middle pane
The cluster entries are sorted by time. Notice the entries that appear when the host failure was
detected.
The initial messages from the hosts might show failures. These messages indicate that the
virtual machines on the downed host have failed. The virtual machines take 1 to 2 minutes to
successfully migrate to the new host.
The screenshot shows a list of recent events in the cluster.

6. In the inventory, select the ESXi host that is not rebooting.

7. Click the VMs tab.

Q1. Do you see the virtual machines that were running on the original master ESXi
host, which you recorded in task 3, step 3?

8. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the Sphere HA tab.

9. Monitor the original master ESXi host inventory until it is fully running again.
10. Select Summary in the middle pane.

Q2. Has the master host changed?

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Task 4: View the vSphere HA Cluster Resource Usage
You examine the CPU, memory, and storage I/O resource usage information of the cluster.
Do this task as a team. Student B should do the steps in this task.
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of
the inventory.
2. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the Resource
Allocation tab.
3. Select CPU and record the information for the cluster.

• Total Reservation Capacity (GHz)

• Used Reservation (GHz)
• Available Reservation (GHz)
4. In the virtual machines pane, verify that the CPU reservation is not set on the virtual machines.

The Reservation column shows 0 (MHz).

5. Select Memory and record the information for the cluster.

• Total Reservation Capacity (GB)

• Used Reservation (GB)
• Available Reservation (GB)
6. In the virtual machines pane below, verify that the memory reservation is not set on the virtual
machines.
The Reservation column shows 0 (MB).

130 Lab 20 Using vSphere HA

Task 5: Manage vSphere HA Slot Size

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You configure admission control to ensure that sufficient resources are available in a cluster to
provide failover protection and to ensure that the virtual machine resource reservations are
respected.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of
the inventory.
2. Right-click Lab Cluster and select Settings.

3. In the middle pane, select vSphere Availability under Services and click Edit.

4. In the navigation pane, select Admission Control.

5. In the Define host failover capacity by pane, select Slot Policy (powered-on VMs) and click OK.

6. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the vSphere HA tab.

7. Select Summary in the middle pane.

8. View the slot information of the cluster.

a. In the Advanced Runtime Info pane, record the slot information for this cluster.

• Slot size: CPU (MHz), Memory (MB)

• Total slots in cluster
• Used slots
• Available slots
• Failover slots

9. In the Navigator pane, click the VMs and Templates tab and expand the view.

Lab 20 Using vSphere HA 133

10. Set the CPU reservation on the your_name##-3 virtual machine (power-ON if it’s powered-off).

a. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine and select Edit Settings.

b. Click the arrow next to CPU to expand the view.

c. In the Reservation text box, enter 512 (MHz) and click OK.
11. In the Navigator pane, click the Hosts and Clusters tab.

12. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the vSphere HA tab.

13. Select Summary in the middle pane, and click Refresh vSphere Web Client

14. View slot information for this cluster.

a. In the Advanced Runtime Info pane, verify that the slot size for CPU changed from the value
recorded in step 8.
b. Record the information shown in the Slot size text box.

Slot size: CPU (MHz), Memory (MB)

15. Use the vSphere HA slot size policy to enforce a slot size.

a. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Configure tab..

b. Select vSphere HA and click Edit.

c. Click the arrow next to Admission Control to expand the view.

d. Under Define failover capacity by static number of hosts, click Fixed slot size for the slot size policy.

Lab 20 Using vSphere HA 133

e. In the CPU slot size text box, enter 300 to change the CPU slot size.
f. Click Calculate next to VMs requiring multiple slots and click the View link. The VMs

Requiring Multiple Slots window appears.

g. Record the Required Slots value for the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

Because the CPU slot size has a fixed value of 300 MHz, the your_name##-3 virtual machine with
the 512 MHz CPU reservation will use two slots to power on.
h. Click OK and click OK to exit the Edit Cluster Settings window.
16. View the slot information for this cluster.
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a. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the vSphere HA tab.

b. Select Summary in the middle pane.

c. In the Advanced Runtime Info pane, record the information shown in the Slot size text box
and compare with the values recorded earlier.
Slot size: CPU (MHz), Memory (MB)

Lab 20 Using vSphere HA 133

17. Remove the vSphere HA fixed slot size setting.

a. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Configure tab..

b. Select vSphere Availability in the middle pane and click Edit.

c. Click the arrow next to Admission Control to expand the view.

d. Under Define failover capacity by static number of hosts, click Cover all powered-on
virtual machines for the slot size policy.
e. Click OK.

18. Remove the CPU reservation on the your_name##-3 virtual machine.

a. Right-click the your_name##-3 virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.

b. Click the arrow next to CPU to expand the view.

c. Enter 0 (MHz) in the Reservation text box and click OK.

Task 6: Configure a vSphere HA Cluster with Strict Admission Control

You use admission control to impose constraints on resource usage and to ensure that sufficient
resources are available in a cluster to provide failover protection. Any actions violating the
constraints are not permitted.
In task 5, when you configured the cluster under Define failover capacity by static number of hosts,
you instructed vSphere HA to calculate slots. vSphere HA calculated the space for a virtual machine
to run based on the largest CPU and memory reservation across all virtual machines in the cluster. In
this task, you learn how strict admission control works.
Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of
the inventory.
2. Shut down all virtual machines and wait for the process to compete.

Wait another minute for the system to release the memory.

Lab 20 Using vSphere HA 133

3. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Summary tab.

4. Record the memory information for this cluster.

• Capacity (total)
• Used
• Free
Your view should be similar to the screenshot.

Q1. Why is the free memory value for the cluster less than the total memory
capacity value?

5. Click the Monitor tab, click the Resource Allocation tab, and select Memory to view
information now.
6. Assign a 768 MB memory reservation to each of the your_name##-2 virtual machines.

a. Right-click the StudentA##-2 virtual machine listed on the Resource Allocation

tab and select Edit Resource Settings.
b. Click the arrow next to Memory to expand the view.

c. Enter 768 (MB) in the Reservation text box and click OK.
d. Repeat steps a through c to set the memory reservation on the student_B_name##-2 virtual
machine.
7. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the vSphere HA tab.

8. Select Summary in the middle pane.

134 Lab 20 Using vSphere HA

9. Record the value shown in the Total slots in cluster text box in the Advanced Runtime Info

21
pane.

Q2. Why does the vSphere Client Web report that value?

10. Right-click the student_A_name##-2 virtual machine and select Power > Power On.

11. Return to the Advanced Runtime Info pane of Lab Cluster and click Refresh in the lower-right
corner of the pane.
12. View the effect that powering on this virtual machine has on your cluster.

Q3. How many total slots in the cluster, used slots, available slots, and failover
slots do you see?

Q4. Why is the value for failover slots half the number of total slots?

13. Record the slot size values that appear.

CPU (MHz) , Memory (MB)

Q5. How is the memory slot size calculated?

14. In the inventory, right-click each of StudentA-name##-3 virtual machines and select Power

On.
15. Return to the Advanced Runtime Info pane of Lab Cluster and click Refresh.

16. View the slot information.

Q6. How many slots are available and what is the reason?

Lab 20 Using vSphere HA 135

17. Right-click the student_B_name##-2 virtual machine in the inventory and select Power >
Power On.
18. Monitor the Recent tasks pane.

Q7. Is your virtual machine allowed to power on, and what is the reason?

Q8. If a cluster has N total slots, can you power on N virtual machines?

Task 7: Prepare for Upcoming Labs

You remove the memory reservations on virtual machines and disable admission control when they
are no longer needed.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
1. Remove the memory reservation on each of the your_name##-2 virtual machines.

a. Right-click the student_A_name##-2 virtual machine and select Edit Resource Settings.

b. In the Memory section, enter 0 (MB) in the Reservation text box and click OK.
c. Repeat steps a and b to remove the memory reservation on the student_B_name##-2 virtual
machine.
2. Right-click the Lab Servers folder in the inventory and select Remove from Inventory.

3. Click Yes to confirm the operation.

4. Edit the settings of the cluster to allow the number of running virtual machines to exceed the
failover capacity of the cluster.
a. In the inventory, right-click Lab Cluster and select Settings.

b. In the right pane, select vSphere Availability and click Edit.

c. In the left pane, click Admission Control.

d. From the Define host failover capacity by drop-down menu, select Disabled.
e. Click OK to commit your changes.

5. Leave the vSphere Client Web open for the next lab.

136 Lab 21 Using vSphere HA

21
Lab 21
Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

Objective: Implement a vSphere DRS cluster

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Create a Load Imbalance

2. Create a vSphere DRS Cluster

3. Verify Proper vSphere DRS Cluster Functionality

4. Create, Test, and Disable a VM-VM Affinity Rule

5. Create, Test, and Disable an Anti-Affinity Rule

6. Create, Test, and Disable a VM-Host Affinity Rule

Task 1: Create a Load Imbalance

You create a load imbalance across the VMware ESXi™ hosts in the lab cluster to test how VMware
vSphere® Distributed Resource Scheduler™ works.
Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• vCenter Server Appliance name
• vCenter Single Sign-On user name
• vCenter Single Sign-On password
• Virtual machine administrator password

Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster 137

1. open a Web browser and connect to the VSphere Client web of vCenter at
https://vcva01.vclass.local or https://172.20.10.94.
2. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of
the inventory.
3. If all four virtual machines are not running on the same host, migrate them to the same
host.
4. Power on the virtual machines that are powered off.

5. Start an instance of cpubusy.vbs on each of the virtual machines.

a. In the left pane, select a virtual machine.

b. In the center pane, click Launch Remote Console on the Summary tab.

c. Log in to the virtual machine as the administrator with the password.

d. Right-click the cpubusy.vbs script on each virtual machine’s desktop and select Open
with Command Prompt.
The number of running cpubusy.vbs instances necessary to cause vSphere DRS to
migrate virtual machines to another host will vary, depending on the resource capacity of
the lab infrastructure.

Task 2: Create a vSphere DRS Cluster

You create a vSphere DRS cluster to balance the computing capacity among all ESXi hosts and
associated virtual machines without service interruption.
Perform this task as a team. Student A should perform the steps in this task.
1. On the vSphere Client Web Home page, click Hosts and Clusters and expand the view of
the inventory.
2. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Configure tab..

3. Select vSphere DRS and click Edit.

4. Select the Turn on vSphere DRS check box.

5. Select Manual from the DRS Automation drop-down menu.

6. Click the arrow next to vSphere DRS Automation to expand the view and move the Migration
Threshold slider to Aggressive on the right.
7. Leave other settings at their defaults and click OK.

138 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

Task 3: Verify Proper vSphere DRS Cluster Functionality
You can run vSphere DRS in either automatic mode or manual mode. In manual mode, you review
the recommendations for optimal virtual machine placement provided by vSphere DRS and decide
whether to make the changes.

22
Perform this task as a team. Student B should perform the steps in this task.
1. Select Lab Cluster from the inventory, click the Monitor tab, and click the vSphere DRS tab.

2. Click Run vSphere DRS Now.

Clicking the button forces vSphere DRS to immediately evaluate the cluster and provide
recommendations instead of waiting the standard 5 minutes before generating
recommendations.
3. Click the Summary tab and click the arrow next to vSphere DRS to expand the pane.
The screenshot shows the expanded view of the vSphere DRS pane.

4. Click the Monitor tab, click the vSphere DRS tab, and select CPU Utilization.

Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster 139

5. In the Sum of Virtual Machine CPU Utilization - Per Host pane, view the CPU consumption on
each ESXi host and click each of the colored boxes to view the CPU consumption of each
virtual machine.
The screenshot shows the CPU utilization information of the ESXi host and the virtual machine.

6. Select Recommendations in the middle pane and view the vSphere DRS recommendations.

The screenshot shows a recommendation made by vSphere DRS to migrate a virtual machine
from one host to another host.

7. Click Apply Recommendations.

8. If your recommendations have expired, click Run DRS Now to generate new recommendations
and apply them.
9. If new recommendations do not appear, click Run DRS Now again.

10. Click the Monitor tab and click the Tasks tab.

11. Click the Expand All icon.

140 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

12. Monitor the Migrate virtual machine subtask under Apply recommendation until completion.

22
13. Click the vSphere DRS tab and click the Run vSphere DRS Now tab to force vSphere DRS to
evaluate the cluster status.

Q2. Is any recommendation shown?

14. Click the Summary tab and view the vSphere DRS pane.

Q3. Does the gauge show that the load is balanced?

15. Click the Monitor tab and click the vSphere DRS tab.

16. Select CPU Utilization.

The virtual machines should spread across the two ESXi hosts. You can refresh the screen to see
the result.

17. In each virtual machine console, press Ctrl+C to stop the cpubusy.vbs script and close the
console.

Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster 141

Task 4: Create, Test, and Disable a VM-VM Affinity Rule
You use VM-VM affinity rules to specify whether the selected individual virtual machines should
run on the same host or be kept on separate hosts.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory, click the VMs tab, and click the Virtual Machines
tab.
2. Point to the gray row of column names, right-click the row, and select Show/Hide Columns.

3. Select the Host check box from the list

and click OK. The Host column appears

in the table.
You can drag the Host column to the left so that it is easily visible.

4. Based on the information in the Name and Host columns, verify that the two

22
virtual machines that you own are running on different ESXi hosts.

148 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

5. If the virtual machines that you own are running on the same ESXi host, migrate the
your_name##-3 virtual machine to the other ESXi host.
Having your two virtual machines reside on two different ESXi hosts is necessary
to test the validity of the VM/Host rule that you create in step 9. If you have one
virtual machine on each ESXi host in the cluster, no action is necessary.

6. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Configure tab..

7. Select VM/Host Rules in the left pane.

8. In the VM/Host Rules pane, click Add.

The Create VM/Host Rule dialog box appears.

9. Configure the options for the VM/Host rule.

a. In the Name text box, enter Colocate-your_name-VMs.

b. Leave the Enable rule check box selected.

c. From the Type drop-down menu, select Keep Virtual Machines Together.

d. Click Add to add members.

e. Select the check boxes for the virtual machines that you own and click OK.

10. Click OK to close the Create VM/Host Rules dialog box.

11. Click the Monitor tab and click the vSphere DRS tab.

148 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

12. Select Recommendations and click Run vSphere DRS Now.

Q1. Do you see any recommendations, and why?

13. If you are ahead of your lab partner, wait for your partner to reach this point of the lab.

14. (Student A) Click Apply Recommendations and wait for the virtual machine migration to
complete.
The virtual machines associated with your affinity rule should be migrated to one of the two
hosts in the vSphere DRS cluster.
15. Click the Monitor tab and click Tasks & Events to view the progress of the virtual
machine migration and wait for its completion.
16. Click the VMs tab.Click the Host column heading to sort the virtual machines
by the ESXi host on which they reside.
The virtual machines that you own should be running on the same ESXi
host.

22
17. Right-click Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Configure tab.

18. Select VM/Host Rules in the left pane.

19. In the VM/Host Rules pane, select your affinity rule and click Edit above the rule.

20. Deselect the Enable rule check box and click OK.

Task 5: Create, Test, and Disable an Anti-Affinity Rule

You create a vSphere DRS anti-affinity rule to force the specified virtual machines to be
kept on separate hosts.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
1. Right-click Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Configure tab.

2. Select VM/Host Rules in the left pane.

3. In the VM/Host Rules pane, click Add.

4. Configure the options for this VM/Host rule.
148 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster
a. In the Name text box, enter Separate-your_name-VMs.
b. Keep the Enable rule check box selected.

c. From the Type drop-down menu, select Separate Virtual Machines.

d. Click Add.

e. Select the check boxes for the virtual machines that you own and click OK.

5. Click OK to close the Create VM/Host Rules dialog box.

6. Click the Monitor tab and click the vSphere DRS tab.

7. If you receive a message stating that a vSphere DRS rule will be disabled due to a conflict, click
OK.
8. Select Recommendations and click Run vSphere DRS Now.

A recommendation to separate your virtual machines should appear. The recommendation is

marked as priority 1 as a result of your vSphere DRS rules.

9. If you are ahead of your lab partner, wait for your partner to reach this point in the lab.

10. (Student B) Click Apply Recommendations and wait for the virtual machine migration
to complete.
11. Click the VMs tab.
12. View the information shown in the Host column.

As a result of your anti-affinity rule, you should see that the virtual machines
associated with your anti-affinity rule are placed on two different ESXi hosts.

22

13. Select Lab Cluster in the Navigator pane and click the Configure tab.
148 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster
14. Select VM/Host Rules in the left pane.

15. In the VM/Host Rules pane, select the Separate-your_name-VMs rule.

16. Click Delete and click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Task 6: Create, Test, and Disable a VM-Host Affinity

Rule
You use VM-Host affinity rules to specify whether the members of a selected virtual
machine vSphere DRS group can run on the members of a specific host vSphere DRS
group.
Students perform the steps in this task individually.
Use the following information from the class configuration handout:
• Partner ESXi host
1. In the middle pane, select VM/Host Groups.

2. In the VM/Host Groups pane, click Add.

3. When the Create VM/Host Group dialog box appears, configure the options.

a. In the Name text box, enter your_name-VMs.

b. Verify that VM Group is selected from the Type drop-down menu.

c. Click Add.

d. Select the check boxes for both of your named virtual machines.

e. Click OK.

f. Click OK to close the dialog box.

4. In the VM/Host Groups pane, click Add.

5. When the Create VM/Host Group dialog box appears, configure the options.
a. In the Name text box, enter your_name-Host.
b. From the Type drop-down menu, select Host Group.
c. Click Add.
d. Select the check box for your own ESXi host and click OK.
e. Click OK to close the dialog box.

6. Select VM/Host Rules in the left pane.

7. In the VM/Host Rules pane, click Add.

8. When the Create VM/Host Rules dialog box appears, configure the options.

148 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

a. In the Name text box, enter Run-only-on-host##.
## is your assigned ESXi host number.
b. Keep the Enable rule check box selected.
c. From the Type drop-down menu, select Virtual Machines to Hosts.
d. From the VM Group drop-down menu, select your_name-VMs.
e. Select Must run on hosts in group from the drop-down menu.
f. From the Host Group drop-down menu, select your_name-Host.
g. Click OK to close the dialog box.

9. Click the Monitor tab and click the vSphere DRS tab.
10. Select Recommendations and click Run DRS Now.

Q1. What recommendations did vSphere DRS make and why?

148 Lab 21 Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

11. If you are ahead of your lab partner, wait for your partner to reach this point in the lab.

12. (Student A) Click Apply Recommendations.

13. Click the Monitor tab and click the Tasks tab to view the progress of the
virtual machine migration and wait for completion.

22
The virtual machines with VM/Host affinity rules applied to them are migrated to
another ESXi host in the cluster.
14. Click the VMs tab.

15. Click the Host column heading to sort the virtual machines by the ESXi host on
which they reside.
Your virtual machines that were running on your partner’s ESXi host are migrated
to your own ESXi host.
16. Right-click one of your virtual machines in the inventory and

select Migrate. The Migrate wizard starts.

17. On the Select the migration type page, click Change computer resource only and click Next.

18. On the Select a compute resource page, click Clusters and click Lab Cluster.

Q2. What do you see in the Compatibility pane?

19. Click Cancel to cancel the migration.

20. Select Lab Cluster in the inventory and click the Configure tab..

21. Select VM/Host Rules in the left pane.

22. In the VM/Host Rules pane, select your Run-only-on-host## rule and click
Edit above the rule.
23. Deselect the Enable rule check box and click OK.

Answer Key 161

Answer Key

Lab 6: Creating Folders in vCenter Server Appliance

Task 2: Create Virtual Machine and Template Folders ....................................................... 30
1. The Lab Servers folder has menu commands Templates folders have menu commands
related to host actions. The LabVM and related to virtual machines.

Lab 7: Using Standard Switches

Task 1: View the Standard Switch Configuration ................................................................. 31

1. The default virtual switch is named vSwitch0. 3. vSwitch0 contains a virtual machine port
2. The default switch is connected to the group named VM Network. Your virtual
physical adapter vmnic0. machine is connected to VM Network.
4. VM Network and Management Network

Lab 13: Modifying Virtual Machines

Task 1: Increase the Size of a VMDK File ........................................................................... 61

1. Yes.
Task 3: Rename a Virtual Machine in the vCenter Server Inventory ................................... 64
1. The folder’s name for the your_name##-4
virtual machine is Hot-Clone##, which is the
original name of this virtual machine.

Answer Key 161

Lab 15: Managing Virtual Machines
Task 1: Unregister a Virtual Machine from the vCenter Server Appliance Inventory ........... 77
1. Yes, a folder named your_name##-4 exists.
When the virtual machine was first created, it
and its folder were named Hot-Clone##.
When the virtual machine was renamed to
your_name##-4, its folder was not renamed.
Only when the virtual machine was migrated
to a new datastore was the folder
automatically renamed to your_name##-4.
Task 5: Revert to a Snapshot............................................................................................... 84
1. Yes, because the memory state was not 3. No, because the memory state was
preserved. preserved.
2. No. You removed these files before creating 4. Yes.
the snapshot named Without iometer or 5. No.
cpubusy.

Task 6: Delete an Individual Snapshot ................................................................................ 85

1. No. 2. Yes.
Task 7: Use the Delete All Function in the Snapshot Manager ........................................... 86
1. Yes. 2. Yes. The current state of the virtual machine
was not altered. Snapshots were consolidated
and then removed. An option to revert to those
earlier points in time is no longer available.

Lab 16: Managing vApps

Task 1: Create a vApp ......................................................................................................... 88
1. Yes. You can see the virtual machines that
your_name-vApp contains.
Task 2: Power On a vApp .................................................................................................... 91
1. No. The your_name-App02 virtual machine
powers on first. About 20 seconds later, the
your_name-App01 virtual machine powers on.
About 20 seconds after that, the your_name-
App03 and your_name-App04 virtual
machines power on.

Lab 17: Managing Resource Pools

Task 3: Verify Resource Pool Functionality ......................................................................... 96
1. 2,000
2. 8,000

162 Answer Key

3. The Fin-Test resource pool, and thus the
virtual machine in it, has only one-fourth of the
CPU shares that the Fin-Prod resource pool
has. So the virtual machine in the Fin-Test
resource pool receives only one-fourth of the
CPU cycles of the logical CPU to which the
virtual machines are pinned.

Lab 18: Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance

Task 2: Use Performance Charts to Monitor CPU Utilization .............................................. 98
1. Yes. The CPU ready value should decrease
significantly because the CPU contention that
was created by running the cpubusy.vbs script
is removed.

Answer Key 163

Lab 20: Using vSphere HA
Task 2: Add Your ESXi Host to a Cluster .......................................................................... 127
1. Yes, if both hosts are added to the cluster and 2. Both shared datastores appear in the
all virtual machines on the hosts are powered heartbeat because both have live virtual
on. machines.
3. Yes, the error management error message
disappeared.
Task 3: Test vSphere HA Functionality.............................................................................. 128
1. Yes, the virtual machines previously running 2. Yes. The backup host was elected as the new
on the original master ESXi host are running master host.
on the remaining host in the cluster.

Task 6: Configure a vSphere HA Cluster with Strict Admission Control ............................ 133
1. Less memory is available because of the 5. Unlike the CPU slot size calculation, which is
overhead needed to run the VMkernel. The based solely on the largest CPU reservation,
VMkernel is holding back memory for its own the calculation for memory slot size is based
use. on the largest memory reservation, plus
2. The vSphere Client Web reports N/A for the memory overhead.
total number of slots because no virtual 6. Zero slots are available because you have
machines are powered on yet. The slot size used all the available slots. Of all of the slots
calculation considers only virtual machines that were originally available, half are
that are powered on. reserved for failover.
3. You should see six total slots in the cluster: 7. The virtual machine is not allowed to power
one used slot, two available slots, and three on, because the cluster has no available slots.
failover slots. If this is not what you see, The error message in the Recent Tasks pane
refresh the vSphere Client Web after 2 shows “Insufficient resource to satisfy
minutes, and the numbers should update. configured failover level for vSphere HA.”
4. The value is half the number of total slots 8. No. Of those N total slots, some will be failover
because you must reserve half of the slots to slots. The number of virtual machines that you
be able to tolerate the failure of one host in the can run is necessarily less than the number of
cluster. slots. For example, in a two-host cluster that

Lab 21: Implementing a vSphere DRS Cluster

Task 3: Verify Proper vSphere DRS Cluster Functionality ................................................ 139
1. Yes, because all the virtual machines are 3. It depends on your lab environment. Even if
running on a single host and the running the cluster is still imbalanced, it is more
cpubusy.vbs instances create a large CPU balanced than it was before the
load. recommendations were applied. vSphere
2. No, because all recommendations are DRS improved the resource allocation for the
applied. virtual machines in the cluster.

Task 4: Create, Test, and Disable a VM-VM Affinity Rule ................................................. 142
1. Yes. vSphere DRS recommends that one of DRS affinity rule that you created.
your virtual machine be migrated to the other
host, so that both of your virtual machines can
be kept together on the same host. This
recommendation is based on the vSphere
Task 6: Create, Test, and Disable a VM-Host Affinity Rule ............................................... 147
1. vSphere DRS recommends that you virtual 2. You receive the error message “Virtual
machine be migrated to a different host due to machine 'your_name##-#' on host
the violation of your VM/Host affinity rule. If no 'host_name' would violate a virtual machines -
recommendations are made, the virtual host affinity rule
machine might already be on the correct host.

154