R Computers Logo R Computers Logo
R Computers Logo

VMware VCP510 Virtual Lab

After taking the VMware VCP5 class, I wanted a setup that would allow me to run through the labs as many times as I wanted. I searched the web, but every lab setup I found had at least one component that was physical. While I love physical hardware as much as the next person, I don't have room in my office for a bunch of equipment for testing (and I can't use any of the production equipment). Besides, this is VIRTUAL - why shouldn't my lab be virtual too. What I am going to cover here is setting up the lab and then going through all the labs one-by-one and giving you any notes I had in case something doesn't work quite right.

To make this work, I upgraded my main computer to an Intel Core i7-3770 CPU 3.4GHz, 32G of RAM, and a 256G SSD drive for the OS and virtual machines. I needed an upgrade anyway. I put on it Windows 7 Enterprise (Windows 8 was a little too new at the time).

Next I need a bunch of software. Some of it is free, some of it is not. I have a MSDN subscription and a VMware subscription, so I did not have to go find demo or trial versions of the software. If you don't have both, there are lots of trail and demo bits that would get you through it. If you do substitute software, the instructions may not be correct. You can dig your way through it though (you can if you want to be a true VCP5/NOS person). Let's start by assembling the software since there is no real reason to start if you don't have it all. Files needed:

  1. VMware Workstation 9 (I used VMware-workstation-full-9.0.2-1031769.exe)
  2. Win Server 2008 R2 64-bit (en_windows_server_2008_r2_with_sp1_vl_build_x64_dvd_617403.iso)
  3. Win Server 2003 R2 32-bit (en_win_srv_2003_r2_standard_with_sp2_cd1_x13-04790.iso) - This is inside ESXi (and the labs have you do things specific to 2003). You could try Server Core instead.
  4. Windows 7 Enterprise (en_windows_7_enterprise_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677651.iso)
  5. OpenFiler 2.3 (openfiler-2.3-x86_64-disc1.iso)
  6. ESXi 5.1 w/Update 01 (VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.1.0.update01-1065491.x86_64.iso)
  7. ESXi 5.1 wo/Update 01 (VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.1.0-799733.x86_64.iso)
  8. vCenter Server Appliance (VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-5.1.0.5200-880472_OVF10.ova)
  9. pfSense Firewall Appliance (pfSense-2.0.3-RELEASE-i386-20130412-1022.ova)
  10. WinSCP (winscp515setup.exe)
  11. ClassFiles-vSphere.iso (I had to create my own because I couldn't find it)

Lab Setup

The Lab setup requires setting up the VMs that make up the virtual network. Here is what we are going to create:

And here are the steps for each one:

  1. Install VMware Workstation 9 and setup Virtual Networks (vmnet3, vmnet4, vmnet5, and vmnet6) (if you want to follow VMware's setup more preciously, do not set up vmnet6 [the IP Storage network] and use vmnet3 [the management network] for storage traffic.)
  2. Create AD/DC VM, load W2K8R2, promote to DC, and install AD/DNS, and configure NTP:
    • IPv4: 172.16.1.99, Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0, DNS: 127.0.0.1
    • Create reverse lookup zone.
    • In AD, add a user, add the ESX Admins group and add the new user to the group.
    • Add another user (don't add them to the ESX Admins group).
    • Change the Default Domain Policy.
    • Add current user to Administrators in User Config / Preferences / Control Panel / Local Users
  3. Create vClient VM (15G), load W7, setup networks (vmnet3, 4*, & 6*), change computer name and domain:
    • *Don't register IP address with DNS server
    • Add ESX Admins to the Administrators Group - Control Panel / Users and Computer / ...
    • Test AD by logging into the domain from vClient (user should have local admin rights)
    • Attach the W2K3.iso file and extract x:\SUPPORT\TOOLS\DEPLOY.CAB to a folder on the desktop.
    • Install WinSCP.
  4. Create SAN VM and load Openfiler and VMware Tools:
    • Create 3 partitions 4.1G (OS), 25G (2x 10G iscsi volumes, 1x 5G NFS volume), 5G (RDM)
    • Test SAN by connecting vClient using SCSI Initiator
    • Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services / Start Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
    • Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services / iSCSI Initiator, enter IP, Quick Connect
    • All we are looking for here is that it connected.
    • Test SAN by connecting vClient using NFS
    • Control Panel / Programs and Features / Turn Windows Features on / Install Services for NFS
    • Map network drive to: \\172.16.30.1/mnt/nas_iscsi_vg/nfs_lvol3/Shared
    • Once mapped, copy W2K3 32-bit.iso and ClassFiles-vShpere.iso onto the drive for later.
    • Join the SAN to AD???
  5. Create ESXi VMs (ESXi01 and ESXi02) - Install ESXi software:
    • Install ESXi 5.1 w/Update 01 to ESXi01
      Installed on: Local disk mpx:vmhba1:C0:T0:L0
      vmnet0: IPv4: 172.16.1.51, Mask: 255.255.255.0, Default Gateway: 0.0.0.0, DNS: 172.16.1.99
      IPv6: Disabled
      Hostname: esxi01.rcomputers.com
    • Add DNS entry for esxi01
    • Install ESXi 5.1 wo/Update 01 to ESXi02
      Installed on: Local disk mpx:vmhba1:C0:T0:L0
      vmnet0: IPv4: 172.16.1.52, Mask: 255.255.255.0, Default Gateway: 0.0.0.0, DNS: 172.16.1.99
      IPv6: Disabled
      Hostname: esxi02.rcomputers.com
    • Add DNS entry for esxi02
  6. Create vCenter Server VM:
    • Install W2K8R2, install vCenter Server 5.1
      IPv4: 172.16.1.1, Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0, DNS: 172.16.1.99
      (must use DC Administrator login to install vCenter Server)
      Or install vCenter Server 5.1 .OVA file (only need 1 CPU and 1G of memory)
    • Run vami_config_net on vCenter01 to configure networking
      IPv6: disabled
      IPv4 address: 172.16.1.1, Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0, Default Gateway: 172.16.1.99
      Hostname: vCS01.rcomputers.com
      DNS server: 172.16.1.99
    • Add DNS entry for vCS01
  7. Create pfSense Firwall VM, load pfSense (i386), connect to vmnet0 and vmnet4:
    • LAN: IPv4: 172.16.10.1, Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0, Hostname: pfSense.rcomputers.com
      WAN: IPv4: DHCP
    • Add DNS entry for pfSense Firewall
    • To disconnect your network from the Internet, go to Settings / Network Adapter (vmnet0) and uncheck Connected. But don't do that yet.
  8. Network complete. With internet access, complete the following tasks:
    • In vClient, install Adobe Flash Player. Optionally, install all updates on DC, vClient, and Openfiler.
    • Make snapshots of all the VMs so you can return and start the labs over.

Labs

That was it! Now that we have the virtual lab set, next come the labs. We have many lab notes that are important based on our setup and the lab instruction summary. The summary is just that - if you need the full instructions, please refer back to the VMware Lab. In fact, you may have to refer back to them because in my notes I mention both 'Tasks' and 'Steps' which is talking about those listed in the VMware labs. The order the labs should be done in is: Lab 1, 2, 4-8, 3, 9-23. Take snapshots if you would like an easy way to roll back the environment to the begining. You do not have to follow the rest of this -or- just look at my notes before each lab to see what I had to change to make it work. Really, the biggest change was moving Lab 3 until after Lab 8.

Lab 1: Install the vSphere Client on the vClient system

In these labs, you can not follow the instructions explicitly - you must interpret in some areas. For example, in Lab 1 the instructions tell you to log in with your Administrator login and password. By default, Windows 7 disables the Administrator account. The account you need to log in with is the Domain User account we created in the DC and assigned to the ESX Admins group.

  1. Test the install by logging into ESXi01

Lab 2: Configure VMware ESXi on ESXi01 (continued from Lab 1)

At the end of Task 5, it says that you will verify AD integration in Lab 14. If you have DNS (with it's reverse lookup zones), AD with the ESX Admins group and our domain user in it, and the DC setup properly, you will be able to use it right now. Exit vSphere Client and restart it. On the login, check the box to use Windows Credentials. If it's all setup properly, you will be able to log in.

  1. Record the following:
    Processor model: __________________________
    Processor speed: __________________________
    Total physical memory: _____________________
    System memory used: ______________________
    Memory available for VMs: __________________
  2. Verify and set (if needed):
    DNS server: 172.16.1.99
    VMkernel default gateway: 172.16.1.99
  3. Enable the NTP Client to start and stop with host
    NTP server: 172.16.1.99
    Verify it is running.
  4. Join ESXi host to AD. Verify you can log in via vClient with 'Use Windows Credentials' checked.
  5. Repeat Lab 2 for ESXi02.

Lab 3: Working with Virtual Machines (postponed)

We are going to skip this lab for now, because we don't have any storage to create our virtual machine on. After we get done with Lab 8 we will be able to do Lab 3. Until then, skip anything that references or uses the VM. We will do it all after we finish Lab 3 (after we finish Lab 8).

Lab 4: Using (configure) VMware vCenter Server

Task 2 - It's possible to download eval licenses to use for this lab. You'll notice that there is still a configuration issue with both ESXi hypervisors: System logs for ESXi are stored on nonpersistent storage. This error is not going to make any difference to our labs, but if you would like to fix it we will do after we finish Lab 3.
Task 5 - When doing this lab, be sure to do it for both servers.

  1. Use the vSphere Web client to configure the database, SSO, and SSO database using the default settings.
  2. Connect to the vCS01 vCenter appliance with the vSphere Client
  3. Add license keys and apply a vCenter Server license key to vCS01
  4. Create a Training datacenter in Hosts and Clusters then under that a Lab Servers and Templates folders.
  5. Create a LabVMs folder under the Training datacenter in VMs and Templates.
  6. In Hosts and Clusters, add ESXi01 and ESXi02 to the Lab Servers folder
    Use LabVMs as your VM location.
  7. Apply a VMware vSphere 5 license to ESXi01 and ESXi02.
  8. Record the following for ESXi01:
    Configuration issue #1: _________________________________________________________
    Configuration issue #2: _________________________________________________________
  9. Use your browser to log in and join vCenter Server to AD.
  10. Verify that you can see your Training datacenter and ESXi hosts using the vSphere Web Client.

Lab 5: Standard Virtual Switches

You'll have to skip Task 3 for now - we'll come back to it. Repeat Tasks 1 and 2 for ESXi02 (use vSphere Web Client this time).

  1. View the standard switch configuration for ESXi01
  2. Record the following:
    Standard Switch name: ____________________________________________
    Virtual Machine Port Group name: ___________________________________
    VMkernel Port name: _____________________________________________
    Physical Adapters name and speed: __________________________________
  3. Create a standard switch, named Production, attached to vmnic1
  4. Verify the following:
    Standard Switch name: vSwitch1
    Virtual Machine Port Group name: Production
    Physical Adapters name and speed: vmnic1, 1000, Full
  5. Repeat for ESXi02 (use vSphere Web Client this time).

Lab 6: Access iSCSI Storage

We have four networks in our setup, so create a standard switch attached to vmnic3. Repeat for ESXi02 - IPv4 address: 172.16.30.52 (do this in vSphere Web Client)

  1. On ESXi01, Create a VMkernel Port standard switch, named IP Storage, attached to vmnic3
    IPv4 address: 172.16.30.51, Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0, Default Gateway: 172.16.1.99
  2. Add iSCSI software storage adapter
    Use dynamic discovery IP address: 172.16.1.99
  3. Verify that there is one connected target, three devices, and three paths listed. (2, 3, and 3???)
  4. Repeat for ESXi02 - IPv4 address: 172.16.30.52 (do this in vSphere Web Client)

Lab 7: Accessing IP Storage

Although the lab says you will browse the NFS Datastore, you don't actually get any instructions to do it. Under Datastores and Datastore Clusters, right-click your datastore and select Browse Datastore. Verify that your windows installation .ISO and ClassFiles-vSphere.iso files are present. If not, click the Upload files to this datastore and copy them onto the nfs_library drive to be used later.

  1. On ESXi01, add a read-only NFS Library
    Server IP: 172.16.1.99
    Folder: /mnt/nas_iscsi_vg/nfs_lvol3/Shared (nfs_library???)
    Name: nfs_library
  2. Verify that the NFS datastore appears in the list of datastores.
  3. View all SCSI targets
    Record iSCSI name: __________________________________________________________
  4. View all NAS mounts (remote path should be the same as Folder above).
  5. Browse the NFS datastore
  6. Repeat for ESXi02.

Lab 8: Manage VMware vSphere VMFS (continued from Lab 7)

Task 2 - postpone this task until the end of Task 6.
Task 3 - there are two Lun0 drives???
Task 6, Step 9 - Use the steps in Task 2 to rename the datastore.

  1. Show All SCSI Adapters and verify that the iSCSI adapter you created is Up.
  2. Create a VMFS-5 Datastore named PrivateVMFS-00
  3. Select VMware Disk vmhba33:C0:T1:L0 at 10G.???
  4. 10G on OPNFILER iSCSI Lun 0???
  5. Verify PrivateVMFS-00 is listed (at just under 10G).
  6. Create a VMFS-5 Datastore named PrivateVMFS-01
  7. Select VMware Disk vmhba33:C0:T1:L0 at 10G.???
  8. 9G on OPNFILER iSCSI Lun 0???
  9. Verify PrivateVMFS-01 is listed (at just under 9G).
  10. Expand PrivateVMFS-01 to the maximum size.
  11. Verify PrivateVMFS-01 is listed (at just under 10G).
  12. Delete PrivateVMFS-01 datastore
  13. Expand PrivateVMFS-00 to add another 10G on OPNFILER iSCSI Lun 0.
  14. Verify that two extents are displayed in the Extent pane.
  15. Verify that PrivateVMFS-00 has a capacity of just under 20G.
  16. Rename PrivateVMFS-00 to VMFS00.

Lab 3: Working with Virtual Machines

Now that we have a datastore, we are ready for this lab. The instructions are almost correct, for example, in Task 1, Step 2 where it says to Click Home and Inventory icon, that icon is now gone so you have to click Home and under Inventory click Hosts and Clusters. Don't forget to choose the LabVMs folder in step 4.
In Task 2, this will only be an unattended install if it was setup that way. Since you are only doing this one time, it doesn't really matter too much. For more information on unattended install, see the Windows Automated Installation Kit. Also, W2K3R2 wants to install stuff from CD2 - cancel that as it's really not needed for these Labs.
Once you are finished with Lab 3, you should be able to complete all the items we couldn't before:
a. Lab 4, Task 5, Steps 6-7
b. Lab 5, Task 1 - your VM will be connected to ESXi01's vSwitch1 Production Virtual Machine Port Group
c. Lab 5, Task 3 - be sure to connect vmnet0 (if disconnected) or you won't have internet access.

  1. Create a W2k3, 32-bit VM on ESXi01 using VMFS01 named Robert01-1
    Memory: 1x CPU; 512MB; Nics: 1x e1000 Production; Disk: New VD 2G Thin Provisioned
    The ISO is on the nfs_library datastore.
  2. Verify that Hard disk 1 is a Thin Provisioned 2G drive named [VMFS-1] Robert-1/Robert-1.vmdk
    Make note of the Provisioned Storage, Not-Shared Storage and the Used Storage values.
  3. Install VMware Tools in the new VM.
  4. Copy the files cpubusy.vbs and iometer.exe from ClassFiles-vSphere.iso in nfs_library.
  5. Extract the files from the executable extpart.exe to the path C:\dell\ExtPart
  6. Disconnect from the ClassFiles-vSphere.iso on the CD-ROM drive.

I did say that we would be able to fix the remaining errors in our virtual lab environment. Now that we have the VMFS datastores setup, we can change the log files to persistent storage. We will fix it both ways just for the experience.

I. Using vSphere Client to fix ESXi01
1. In the vSphere Client, select ESXi01 under Home / Inventory / Hosts and Clusters.
2. In the Configuration tab, under Hardware, click Storage. You should see two VMFS and one NFS.
3. Click Add Storage, in the dialog box:
a. Select Disk/LUN, click next
b. Select Local... which is the same drive as the ESXi OS is loaded on (it should be your only choice)
c. Choose VMFS-5 and name it VMFSLocal
d. Change to Specify Disk size and set it to 2GB.
4. Now we can store the log files on our new drive. In the Configuration tab, under Software, click Advanced Settings.
5. Expand Syslog and click on global.
6. Change Syslog.global.logDir to [VMFSLocal]/Logs. The brackets are needed around the datastore name.
7. Once you click OK, you'll notice that the configuration warning goes away.
8. Go to Datastores and Datastore Clusters, right-click VMFSLocal and Browser Datastore.
9. Click on Logs and you should see the log files for ESXi01.

II. Using vSphere Web Client to fix ESXi02
1. Browse to the host in the vSphere Web Client navigator.
2. In the Manage tab, click Settings.
2. In the Configuration tab, under Hardware, click Storage. You should see two VMFS and one NFS.
3. Click Add Storage, in the dialog box:
a. Select Disk/LUN, click next
b. Select Local... which is the same drive as the ESXi OS is loaded on (it should be your only choice)
c. Choose VMFS-5 and name it VMFSLocal
d. Change to Specify Disk size and set it to 2GB.
4. Now we can store the log files on our new drive. Under System, click Advanced System Settings.
4. Scroll down to Syslog.global.logDir, click it and then click the edit button.
6. Change Syslog.global.logDir to [VMFSLocal]/Logs. The brackets are needed around the datastore name.
7. Click the Storage tab then select VMFSLocal.
8. On the Mange tab, select Files.
9. Expand VMFSLocal / Logs and you should see the log files for ESXi02.

Lab 9: Use Templates and Clones

In Task 1, WinSCP is not setup for us, so login to vCenter Server using the root login (host=vCS01). On the left pane, navigate to Desktop / SysPrep folder you created. On the right pane, navigate to / <root> / etc / vmware-vpx / sysprep / svr2003. Copy all the files from the left pane to the right pane. Close WinSCP.

  1. Using WinSCP, copy the SysPrep files to vCS01 in /etc/vmware-vpx/sysprep/svr2003
  2. Power off Bob01-1 and convert to a template named BobTemplate and move to the Templates folder
  3. Create a customization specification for template deployment called Bob-CustomSpec
    Target OS: Windows
    Name: VMware Student
    Organization: VMware
    Product Key: (put your product key in)
    Password: (blank)
  4. Deploy a VM from the BobTemplate named Bob01-2 in the LabVMs folder on VMFS01
    Use Bob-CustomSpec
  5. Repeat for a VM named Bob01-3
  6. Test the deployment by powering on and login to both VMs
  7. Clone Bob01-2 to a VM named HotClone01 in the LabVMs folder on VMFS01
    Use Bob-CustomSpec

Lab 10: Modify a Virtual Machine

Task 4??? - Opps, I forgot to type in my note here.

  1. Increase the Thin Provisioned disk of HotClone-1 to 4G
  2. Use Dell's ExtPart utility to increase the drive size by 1024MB.
  3. Verify the drive in Windows says approx. 3G. Shutdown the VM.
  4. Increase HotClone01's memory to 512MB
  5. Rename HotClone01 to Bob01-4
  6. Add a Virtual RDM LUN to Bob01-2 on Lun 0.
  7. Rename the VM to Bob01-2-RDM
  8. Verify a new virtual machine file named Bob01-2_1-rdm.vmdk exists.
  9. Verify the guest OS can see the disk.
  10. Shutdown Bob01-3 and inflate the Thin Provisioned disk. Verify that it is fully allocated.

Lab 10.5: Host Profiles

Note: This is not part of the ICM course, but can be done here to make sure both servers are setup the same.

  1. Add ESXi02 (esxi02.rcomputers.com) to the Lab Servers folder
  2. Apply a VMware vSphere 5 Enterprise Plus license.
  3. Use LabVMs as your VM location.
  4. Create a Host Profile from the existing host esxi-1.vmeduc.com, named Base Configuration
  5. Check compliance with Base Configuration profile against esxi-2 (after putting esxi-2 in maint. mode)
  6. Apply the host profile to esxi-2
  7. Change the IPv4 address to 172.16.1.101, subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
  8. Verify the vSwitches and IP addresses were updated.
  9. Exit maintenance mode
  10. Add a Local VMware VMFS-5 Disk as a Datastore named Local-2
  11. Select Local VMware Disk vmhba1:C0:T1:L0 at 5G.
  12. Verify Local-2 is listed (at just under 5G).
  13. Create a VMFS-5 Datastore named VMFS-2
  14. 10G on OPNFILER iSCSI Lun 1.
  15. Verify VMFS-2 is listed (at just under 10G).
  16. You should see 4 datastores: Local-2, nfs_library, VMFS-1, and VMFS-2.

Task 3 asked to reboot the ESXi server. This worked as expected, but while I was continuing with the lab I noticed a new warning message that I hadn't seen before: The number of vSphere HA heartbeat datastores for this host is 1, which is less than required: 2. Earlier I had checked the heartbeats and I had two on each datastore. So what happened? Some web searches did not really help. They explained what the problem was, but not how I had gotten there. Getting tired trying to find solutions on the web, I started looking at the two ESXi VMs. When I looked at the heartbeat files I noticed that some were not getting updated any longer. I went to look at ESXi02 datastores and everything seemed fine. I took a glance at the ESXi01 datastores, expecting to find the same thing but found no VMFS datastores connected. How did this happen? Well, that explained the warning message. All I knew for sure at this point was that ESXi01 could still see the SAN because the NFS datastore was still working. A bunch more web searches later and I still didn't have an answer on how to fix it. I tried re-adding the datastores, but they weren't listed to add. I tried removing the iSCSI storage adapters, discovering them anew and, while that worked, it did not solve the problem. Time to give up and restore the snapshot. Now I had no datastores either, because they were not set up yet. Host Profiles to the rescue.

The Objective: Synchronize ESXi host configurations. I wanted to bring my ESXi01 host back up to the same level as ESXi02 so I could finish the labs. To do that we need to:
1. Create a host profile.
2. Attach a host profile to an ESXi host and check compliance.
3. Apply a host profile to an ESXi host.

Task 1: Create a host profile.
In order to create a host profile, I had to return my ESXi hypervisors to the Evaluation license. The license that I have does not include Host Profiles. Once that was done I could follow the below instructions to create and apply a host profile.

[Insert NDG Lab 11, tasks 2, 3, and 4 here]

Now that it's done, I can change the license key back to my license keys and I am ready to continue!

Lab 11: Migrate Virtual Machines

Skip Task 1, but open the vSphere Web Client - we don't have private datastores.
Skip Task 6 - we don't have any private datastores.
Task 7 - If you haven't tried migration with vSphere Client then try migrating the other machines back to ESXi01 with vSphere Client.

  1. Using vSphere Web Client, create a VMkernel port group for vMotion migration using vmnic2
    On ESXi01: IPv4 address: 172.16.20.51, subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
  2. Verify the configuration information.
  3. View the networking properties to verify you have an actual speed of 1000 Mb, Full Duplex
  4. Repeat for ESXi02: IPv4 address: 172.16.20.52, subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 (could use vSphere Client)
  5. Use a map to verify that both esxi hosts have access to the same datastores.
  6. Use a map to verify that both esxi hosts have access to the same networks.
  7. Verify that Bob01-2 VM meets vMotion requirements. Power on Bob01-2.
  8. Migrate Bob01-2 from ESXi01 to ESXi02.
  9. Verify that Bob01-2 is now running on ESXi02.
  10. Migrate the other machines to ESXi02 (be sure to try this with vSphere Client too).
  11. Migrate Bob01-2 back to ESXi01.
  12. Migrate the other machines back to ESXi01 (be sure to try this with vSphere Client too).

Lab 12: Manage Virtual Machines

No additional notes - this one worked perfectly.

  1. Record Bob01-4's VMFS datastore and location: __________________________________________
  2. Shutdown Bob01-4.
  3. Remove Bob01-4 from inventory.
  4. Verify the data files for Bob01-4 still exist.
  5. Add Bob04-1 to inventory on ESXi01 named Bob01-5
  6. Verify that the virtual machine was placed back in the inventory.
  7. Delete Bob01-5.
  8. Verify that VMFS01 has Bob01-1 (BobTemplate), Bob01-2, and Bob01-3. VMFS-2 is empty.
  9. Take a snapshot of Bob01-3 named With Iometer and cpubusy
    Description is: With both iometer.exe and cpubusy.vbs; don't snapshot the VM's memory
  10. On Bob01-3's desktop, delete iometer.exe
  11. Take a snapshot of Bob01-3 named Without Iometer
    Description is: Deleted iometer.exe; snapshot the VM's memory
  12. On Bob01-3's desktop, delete cpubusy.vbs
  13. Take a snapshot of Bob01-3 named Without Iometer and cpubusy
    Description is: Deleted cpubusy.vbs; don't snapshot the VM's memory
  14. Verify all three snapshots and their descriptions.
  15. Go to the With iometer and cpubusy snapshot.
  16. Verify cpubusy.vbs and iometer.exe are on the desktop.
  17. Go to the Without iometer snapshot.
  18. Verify the desktop contains only cpubusy.vbs.
  19. Delete Without iometer and cpubusy snapshot.
  20. Verify the desktop contains only cpubusy.vbs.
  21. Delete all remaining snapshots.

Lab 13: Manage vApps

At this point you should have Bob01-2 and Bob01-3 VMs and BobTemplate.

  1. Shutdown VMs.
  2. Create a vApp named Bob-vApp on ESXi01 and add Bob01-1 and Bob01-2
  3. Verify that Bob-vApp contains the VMs
  4. Change the vApp starting so each VM gets 20 seconds between starts.
  5. Start the vApp and verify there is a 20 second delay between starting Bob01-3 and Bob01-2.
  6. Shutdown Bob-vApp and delete it.

Lab 14: Access Control

Task 3: Although, the AD group ESX Admins works as expected when logging into ESXi01 or ESXi02, it doesn't work when logging into vCS01. To fix this, log in to vCS01 as root and apply the Administrator permission to vCS01 for the ESX Admins group. Now you can log into vCenter Server Appliance using your AD credentials.

  1. Check login for Juliana.
  2. Grant read-only access to Juliana in vCenter
  3. Verify that Juliana has read-only rights on objects.
  4. Add administrative permissions to ESX Admins on vCS01.
  5. Verify that Robert has Administrator rights on objects.

Lab 15: User Permissions

No additional notes - this one worked perfectly.

  1. Create a custom role in vCenter Server called VM Creator - Bob
  2. Datastore - Allocate Space
  3. Network - Assign Network
  4. Resource - Assign virtual machine to resource pool
  5. Virtual machine / Configuration - Add new disk, Add or remove device, Memory
  6. Virtual machine - select all Interaction privileges
  7. Virtual machine / Inventory - Create new
  8. Add the VM Creator assigned role for Juliana to:
    the LabVMs folder, ESXi01, VMFS01, and the Production network
  9. Verify that vuser:
    Can only see the LabVMs folder, ESXi01, VMFS01, and the Production network
    Can create a new VM called Juliana-Temp
    Can only see ESXi01 to select
    Can only see VMFS01 to select
    Can only see Production to select
  10. Disk size 2G Thin Provisioned
  11. Verify a VM is created.
  12. Verify that Juliana can't delete Juliana-Temp.
  13. Delete Juliana-Temp with the admin account.

Lab 16: Resource Pools

No additional notes - this one worked perfectly.

  1. Create CPU contention by running cpubusy.vbs on Bob01-2 and Bob01-3
  2. Add a scheduling affinity to the CPU so it only runs on the 1st CPU for both VMs
  3. Verify that both VM scripts now take 2-3 seconds per run
  4. Create a resource pool named Fin-Test on ESXi01 and set CPU Resource Shares to Low
  5. Create a resource pool named Fin-Prod on ESXi01 and set CPU Resource Shares to High
  6. Verify that number of shares available to Fin-Test is Low (2000)
  7. Verify that number of shares available to Fin-Prod is High (8000)
  8. Move Bob01-2 to the Fin-Prod resource pool and Bob01-3 to the Fin-Test resource pool
  9. Verify that Bob01-2 script only takes 1-2 seconds and Bob01-3 takes 5-7 seconds
  10. Change Fin-Test from Low to Normal and Fin-Prod from High to Normal
  11. Verify that Bob01-2 and Bob01-3 now perform equally
  12. Stop cpubusy.vbs on Bob01-2.

Lab 17: Monitoring Virtual Machine Performance (continued from Lab 16)

No additional notes - this one worked perfectly.

  1. Use two vSphere Web Clients to monitor CPU utilization of Used and Ready counters on both VMs
  2. Verify a big difference between the two VMs Ready and Used values for CPU instance 0.
  3. Remove the scheduling affinity value from Robert-1 and Robert-3.
  4. Stop cpubusy.vbs on Bob01-3.

Lab 18: Using Alarms

Task 2, Step 2 - drag both of your ESXi hosts into the cluster.

  1. Create a new VM alarm for Bob01-2, named VM CPU Usage, that monitors for a CPU condition
  2. Set Warning condition when it's above 25% for 30 seconds
  3. Set Alert condition when it's above 50% for 5 minutes
  4. When Green to Yellow once, then Action = Suspend VM
  5. Create a new VM alarm that monitors for an event in the Training datacenter
  6. Named VM Suspended
  7. Just triggered on Bob01-2
  8. While monitoring the Bob01-2's alarms, start cpubusy.vbs
  9. Verify the VM CPU Usage alarm appears briefly
  10. Verify the VM Suspended alert alarm appears
  11. Acknowledge the VM Suspended alarm
  12. Clear the alarm.
  13. Disable both alarms and verify.
  14. Re-power on Bob01-2 and stop cpubusy.vbs

Lab 19: Using VSphere High Availability

Task 5, Step 7 - I had to use 2500MHz to get my values to change. Your value will probably be different as it all depends on the processor you have in your host system.
Task 6, Step 4 - With only 2GB per ESXi server, use 61MB on each VMs resource allocation.
Task 6, Step 12 - You have to create another VM to test this. Create one from the template and add it to the cluster. Then you can try to power it on only to see that you can't power it on.

  1. Create a cluster in Training datacenter, named Lab Cluster, enabled for vSphere HA set at 25%
  2. Power on Bob01-2 and Bob01-3
  3. Move both ESXi servers into the cluster
  4. Check the cluster status for:
    - ESXi01 should be listed as the Master
    - There should be 2 Protected VMs
    - You should see 2 heartbeats next to both VMFS01 and VMFS02
    - Configuration issues
  5. Reboot ESXi01
  6. Monitor events in the Lab Cluster
  7. Verify that both VMs were restarted on ESXi02
  8. Check the cluster status for: ESXi02 should be listed as the Master
  9. Use the Cluster and VM resources to determine:
    1. Max number of VMs based on CPU
    2. Max number of VMs based on memory
    If these two numbers are different, what do you do to your cluster resources to get the higher number?
  10. Power down both VMs.
  11. Manage vSphere HA slot size (???)
  12. Configure a vSphere HA Cluster with strict admission control (???)

Lab 20: (Optional) Designing a Network Configuration

After going through all the work to create a virtual lab, I skipped over this one.

Lab 21: Configuring VMware vSphere Fault Tolerance

Unless you have one of the few supported processors you will be unable to do this. Click the bubble - if you have this message, "Host CPU does not support hardware virtualization which is required for replay," you can not do this lab. So I was unable to do this lab.

Update: After running into a problem trying to set up Hyper-V inside VMware Workstation 10, I realize there may be a fix for this which would allow me to finish the lab. I will try it and update this again. Stay tuned.

Lab 22: VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler

Task 1: You only have two VMs you can power on. Use both and start cpubusy.vbs on both.
Task 3, Step 13: Yes, it should now show that it is balanced since one VM is running on one host and one VM on the other.
Task 6, Step 6: Choose either one of your ESXi hosts.

  1. Turn on DRS for the Lab Cluster, set to Manual and Aggressive migration
  2. Power on both VMs on ESXi01 and start cpubusy.vbs on both VMs
  3. Verify that the Current host load is imbalanced
  4. View the standard deviation and examine the chart to see the imbalance
  5. Apply DRS recommendations
  6. Verify that the Current host load is balanced
  7. Create an affinity rule to keep virtual machines together
  8. Examine and apply DRS recommendations
  9. Verify that DRS placed the virtual machines on the same ESXi host
  10. Disable the affinity rule
  11. Create an anti-affinity rule to separate virtual machines
  12. Examine and apply DRS recommendations
  13. Verify that DRS placed the virtual machines on different ESXi hosts
  14. Disable the anti-affinity rule
  15. Create a DRS VM group, named Bob-VMs, and put both VMs in it.
  16. Create another group called Bob-ESXi and put one of the ESXi hosts in it.
  17. Add a rule that uses the VMs group and only runs those on the Hosts group you created.
  18. Examine and apply DRS recommendations
  19. Verify that DRS placed the virtual machines on the same ESXi host
  20. Try to migrate one of the VMs to the other host and verify the compatibility error.
  21. Disable the affinity rule

Lab 23: VMware vSphere Update Manager

Task 1: VMware vSphere Update Manager requires a 64-bit OS, but does not install on Windows 7 or (oddly enough) Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 - the only 64-bit OSs I have in my lab setup. You have two choices: 1. install a 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 or 2008 (not R2 SP1); 2. modify the .MSI file so that you can load it into your Windows 7 machine. I went with option 2, using the following directions to modify the .MSI file: (insert directions here)
Task 4: We do not have host patches stored in a zip file on the desktop. Starting with Step 4, follow these directions:
Select Direct connection to Internet (make sure your firewall is connected)
Click Download Now
Monitor Recent Tasks to see the Download patch definitions job is completed.
Continue on with Task 5.
Task 5, Step 3, Patches: Select Patch ID ESXi510-Update01
Task 8, Step 4, Answer a. ESXi02; answers g-i. Since the other host was compliant it was not patched. Had it been patched, these answers would then be correct.
You may notice that the host is no longer in compliance with the attached profile.

  1. Install VMware vSphere Update Manager on vClient
  2. Install VMware vSphere Update Manager Plug-In in vSphere Client.
  3. Change vSphere DRS to fully automated.
  4. Check that the VMs contain no memory or CPU reservations.
  5. Download patch definitions.
  6. Create a patch baseline, named ESXi Host Update
  7. Choose fixed and select Patch ID ESXi510-Update01
  8. Attach the new baseline and scan for updates, verify 50% is compliant
  9. Stage the patches on the non-compliant host
  10. Remediate the ESXi host, verify 100% compliance.

Lab 24: Install vCenter Server (optional)

While this lab is optional, you should do it for the experience. To complete the lab, you will need another Windows Server VM. You can either create that in VMware Workstation or create it on one of the ESXi hosts.

  1. Install vCenter Server

Done!

At this point you should be able to answer/research VCP510 questions and answers using your lab setup. There are lots of free questions on the Internet and I would suggest that you read the question and perform the action in your lab or look up the answer in the VMware documentation.

Yes, I have a couple of things to add and a few questions (???) to fill in, but I hope this has helped on your journey.

Other things to do

Other things you can do with your virtual lab:

  1. esxtop (enable SSH to use Putty)
  2. VAAI (esxcli storage core device vaai status get)
  3. PowerCLI (install VMware VIX, PowerCLI 5.1, and PowerGui 3.6)
  4. vDS (vSphere Distributed Switch)
  5. vSphere Auto-Deploy
  6. Storage DRS
  7. Data Recovery

Good luck with your VCP510 exam!