Chapter
Chapter 1: Configuring and Administering vSphere 6.x Security
Objective 1.1 – Configure and administer role-based access control
Compare and contrast propagated and explicit permission assignments
View/sort/export user and group lists
Add/modify/remove permissions for users and groups on vCenter Server inventory objects
Determine how permissions are applied and inherited in vCenter Server
Create/clone/edit vCenter Server Roles
Configure VMware Identity Sources
Apply a role to a user/group and to an object or group of objects
Change permission validation settings
Determine the appropriate set of privileges for common tasks in vCenter Server
Compare and contrast default system/sample roles
Determine the correct permissions needed to integrate vCenter Server with other VMware products
Objective 1.2 – Secure ESXi and vCenter Server 2
Configure encrypted vMotion
Describe ESXi Secure Boot
Enable/configure/disable services in the ESXi firewall
Change ESXi default account access
Add an ESXi Host to a directory service
Apply permissions to ESXi Hosts using Host Profiles
Control access to hosts (DCUI/Shell/SSH/MOB)
Control datastore browser access
Create/Manage vCenter Server Security Certificates
Change vCenter default account access
Restrict administrative privileges
Understand the implications of securing a vSphere environment
Objective 1.3 – Configure and Enable SSO and Identity Sources
Describe PSC architecture and components
Differentiate available authentication methods with VMware vCenter
Perform a multi-site PSC installation
Configure/manage identity sources
Configure/manage platform services controller (PSC)
Configure/manage VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA)
Upgrade a single/complex PSC installation
Add an ESXi host to an AD domain
Configure and manage KMS for VM encryption
Objective 1.4 – Secure vSphere Virtual Machines
Enable/disable VM encryption
Harden virtual machine access
Control VMware Tools installation
Configure virtual machine security policies
Harden a virtual machine against DoS attacks
Control VM-VM communications
Control VM device connections
Configure network security policies
Configure VM encrypted vMotion
Chapter 2: Configure and Administer vSphere 6.x Networking
Objective 2.1 – Configure policies/features and verify vSphere networking
Creating/deleting a vSphere Distributed Switch
Adding/removing ESXi hosts from a vSphere Distributed Switch
Adding/configuring/removing dvPort groups
Adding/removing uplink adapters to dvUplink groups
Configuring vSphere Distributed Switch general and dvPort group settings
Creating/configuring/removing virtual adapters
Migrating virtual machines to/from a vSphere Distributed Switch
Configuring LACP on vDS given design parameters
Describing vDS Security policies/settings
Configuring dvPort group blocking policies
Configuring load balancing and failover policies
Configuring VLAN/PVLAN settings for VMs given communication requirements
Configuring traffic shaping policies
Enabling TCP Segmentation Offload support for a virtual machine
Enabling jumbo frames support on appropriate components
Recognizing the behavior of vDS auto-rollback
Configuring vDS across multiple vCenters to support Long Distance vMotion
Comparing and contrasting vSphere Distributed Switch capabilities
Configuring multiple VMkernel Default Gateways
Creating and configure custom TCP/IP Stacks
Objective 2.2 – Configuring Network I/O control (NIOC)
Explaining NIOC capabilities
Configuring NIOC shares/limits based on VM requirements
Explaining the behavior of a given NIOC setting
Determining Network I/O Control requirements
Differentiating Network I/O Control capabilities
Enabling/Disable Network I/O Control
Monitoring Network I/O Control
Chapter 3: Configure and Administer vSphere 6.x Storage
Objective 3.1 – Managing vSphere integration with physical storage
Performing NFS v3 and v4.1 configurations
Discovering new storage LUNs
Configuring FC/iSCSI/FCoE LUNs as ESXi boot devices
Mounting an NFS share for use with vSphere
Enabling/configuring/disabling vCenter Server storage filters
Configuring/editing hardware/dependent hardware initiators
Enabling/disabling software iSCSI initiator
Configuring/editing software iSCSI initiator settings
Configuring iSCSI port binding
Enabling/configuring/disabling iSCSI CHAP
Determining use cases for Fiber Channel zoning
Comparing and contrasting array thin provisioning and virtual disk thin provisioning
Objective 3.2 – Configure software-defined storage
Understanding a vSAN iSCSI target
Explaining vSAN and vVOL architectural components
Determining the role of storage providers in vSAN
Determining the role of storage providers in vVOLs
Explaining vSAN failure domains functionality
Configuring/managing VMware vSAN
Creating/modifying VMware Virtual Volumes
Configuring storage policies
Enabling/disabling vSAN Fault Domains
Creating Virtual Volumes given the workload and availability requirements
Collecting vSAN Observer output
Creating storage policies appropriate for given workloads and availability requirements
Configuring vVOLs Protocol Endpoints
Objective 3.3 – Configure vSphere Storage multipathing and failover
Explaining common multi-pathing components
Differentiating APD and PDL states
Comparing and contrasting active optimized versus active non-optimized port group states
Explaining features of Pluggable Storage Architecture (PSA)
Understanding the effects of a given claim rule on multipathing and failover
Explaining the function of claim rule elements
Changing the path selection policy using the UI
Determining required claim rule elements to change the default PSP
Determining the effect of changing PSP on multipathing and failover
Determining the effects of changing SATP on relevant device behavior
Configuring/managing storage load balancing
Differentiating available storage load balancing options
Differentiating available storage multipathing policies
Configuring storage policies including vSphere storage APIs for storage awareness
Locating failover events in the UI
Objective 3.4 – Perform VMFS and NFS configurations and upgrades
Performing VMFS v5 and v6 configurations
Describing VAAI primitives for block devices and NAS
Differentiating VMware filesystem technologies
Migrating from VMFS5 to VMFS6
Differentiating physical mode RDMs and virtual mode RDMs
Creating a virtual/physical mode RDM
Differentiating NFS 3.x and 4.1 capabilities
Comparing and contrasting VMFS and NFS datastore properties
Configuring multi-writer locking
Connecting an NFS 4.1 datastore using Kerberos
Creating/renaming/deleting/unmounting VMFS datastores
Mounting/unmounting an NFS datastore
Extending/expanding VMFS datastores
Placing a VMFS datastore in maintenance mode
Selecting the preferred path/disabling a path to a VMFS datastore
Enabling/disabling vStorage API for array integration (VAAI)
Determining a proper use case for multiple VMFS/NFS datastores
Objective 3.5 – Set up and configure Storage I/O Control
Describing the benefits of SIOC
Enabling and configuring SIOC
Configuring/managing SIOC
Differentiating between SIOC and dynamic queue depth throttling features
Determining a proper use case for SIOC
Comparing and contrasting the effects of I/O contention in environments with and without SIOC
Understanding SIOC metrics for datastore clusters and Storage DRS
Chapter 4: Upgrade a vSphere Deployment to 6.x
Objective 4.1 – Perform ESXi Host and Virtual Machine Upgrades
Configuring download source(s)
Setting up UMDS to set up download repository
Creating baselines and/or baseline groups
Attaching baselines to vSphere objects
Staging patches and extensions
Upgrading a vSphere Distributed Switch
Upgrading virtual machine hardware
Upgrading an ESXI host by using vCenter Update Manager
Staging multiple ESXI host upgrades
Aligning appropriate baselines with target inventory objects
Objective 4.2 – Perform vCenter Server Upgrades (Windows)
Comparing the methods of upgrading vCenter Server
Upgrading vCenter Server 5.5 on Windows
Upgrading vCenter Server 6.0 on Windows
Backup vCenter Server database, configuration and certificate datastore
Backup the Windows vCenter Server
Performing updates as prescribed
Determining the upgrade compatibility of an environment
Determining correct order of steps to upgrade a vSphere implementation
Objective 4.3 – Perform vCenter Server migration to VCSA
Understanding the migration paths to the vCSA
Migrating from 5.5 to 6.5 with embedded PSC
Migrating from 5.5 to 6.5 with external PSC
Chapter 5: Administer and Manage vSphere 6.x Resources
Objective 5.1 – Configure multilevel Resource Pools
Determining the effect of the expandable reservation parameter on resource allocation
Creating a Resource Pool hierarchical structure
Configuring custom Resource Pool attributes
Determining how Resource Pools apply to vApps
Creating/removing a Resource Pool
Adding/removing VMs from a Resource Pool
Determining appropriate shares, reservations, and limits for hierarchical Resource Pools
Objective 5.2 – Configure vSphere DRS and Storage DRS clusters
Adding/removing Host DRS Group
Adding/removing a virtual machine DRS group
Managing DRS affinity/anti-affinity rules
Creating a VM-VM affinity rule
Creating a VM-Host affinity rule
Configuring the proper DRS automation level based on a set of business requirements
Backup a resource pool tree
Restoring a resource pool tree
Explaining how DRS affinity rules effect virtual machine placement
Understanding network DRS
Differentiating load balancing policies
Host network saturation threshold
Monitoring host network utilization
Describing Predictive DRS
Chapter 6: Backup and Recover a vSphere Deployment
Objective 6.1 – Configure and Administer vCenter Appliance Backup/Restore
Configuring vCSA File-based backup and restore
Defining supported backup targets
Objective 6.2 – Configure and administer vCenter Data Protection
Deploying VDP application agents
Differentiating VMware Data Protection's capabilities
Explaining VMware data protection sizing guidelines
Creating/deleting/consolidating virtual machine snapshots
Installing and configuring VMware Data Protection
Creating a backup job with VMware Data Protection
Backing up/restoring a virtual machine with VMware Data Protection
Objective 6.3 – Configure vSphere Replication
Comparing and contrasting vSphere Replication compression methods
Configuring a recovery point objective (RPO) for a protected virtual machine
Managing snapshots on recovered virtual machines
Installing/configuring/upgrading vSphere Replication
Replication Configure VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA) integration with vSphere
Configuring vSphere Replication for single/multiple VMs
Recovering a VM using vSphere Replication
Performing a failback operation using vSphere Replication
Deploying a pair of vSphere Replication virtual appliances
Chapter 7: Troubleshoot a vSphere Deployment
Objective 7.1 – Troubleshoot vCenter Server and ESXi hosts
Understanding the VCSA monitoring tool
Monitoring status of the vCenter Server services
Performing basic maintenance of a vCenter Server database
Monitoring status of ESXi management agents
Determining ESXi host stability issues and gather diagnostics information
Monitoring ESXi system health
Locating and analyze the vCenter Server and ESXi logs
Determining appropriate commands for troubleshooting
Troubleshooting common ESXi/vCenter issues
Objective 7.2 – Troubleshoot vSphere storage and networking
Identifying and isolating network and storage resource contention and latency issues
Verifyinging network and storage configuration
Verifying that a given virtual machine is configured with the correct network resources
Monitoring/troubleshooting Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler (SDRS) issues
Recognizing the impact of network and storage I/O control configurations
Recognizing a connectivity issue caused by a VLAN/PVLAN
Troubleshooting common storage and networking issues
Objective 7.3 – Troubleshooting vSphere Upgrades and Migrations
Collecting upgrade diagnostic information
Recognizing common upgrade and migration issues with vCenter Server and vCenter Server Appliances
Creating/locating VMware log bundles
Determining alternative methods to upgrade ESXi hosts in the event of a failure
Configuring vCenter Server logging options
Objective 7.4 – Troubleshooting virtual machines
Monitoring CPU and memory usage
Identifying and isolate CPU and memory contention issues
Recognizing the impact of using CPU/memory limits, reservations, and shares
Describing and differentiate critical performance metrics
Describing and differentiate common metrics
Monitoring performance through esxtop
Troubleshooting Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) issues
Comparing and contrast the Overview and Advanced Charts
Objective 7.5 – Troubleshoot HA and DRS configurations and Fault Tolerance
Troubleshooting common HA and DRS issues
Fault Tolerance configuration
Explaining the DRS Resource Distribution Graph and Target/Current Host Load Deviation
Explaining vMotion Resource Maps
Chapter 8: Deploy and Customize ESXi Hosts
Objective 8.1 – Configure Auto Deploy for ESXi hosts
Describe the components and architecture of an Auto Deploy environment
Implement Host Profiles with an Auto Deploy of an ESXi host
Install and configure Auto Deploy
Deploy multiple ESXi hosts using Auto Deploy
Explaining the Auto Deploy deployment model needed to meet a business requirement
Objective 8.2 – Create and Deploy Host Profiles
Editing answer file to customize ESXi host settings
Modifying and applying a storage path selection plugin (PSP) to a device using host profiles
Modifying and applying switch configurations across multiple hosts using a host profile
Creating/editing/removing a host profile from an ESXi host
Importing/exporting a Host Profile
Attaching and apply a Host Profiles to ESXi hosts in a cluster
Performing compliance scanning and remediation of ESXi hosts and clusters using Host Profiles
Enabling or disabling Host Profiles components
Chapter 9: Configure and Administer vSphere and vCenter Availability Solutions
Objective 9.1 – Configure vSphere HA cluster features
Modify vSphere HA cluster settings
Configure a network for use with HA heartbeats
Apply an admission control policy for HA
Enable/disable vSphere HA settings
Configure different heartbeat datastores for a HA cluster
Apply virtual machine monitoring for a cluster
Configure Virtual Machine Component Protection (VMCP) settings
Implement vSphere HA on a vSAN cluster
Explain how vSphere HA communicates with distributed resource scheduler and distributed power management
Objective 9.2 – Configure vCSA HA
Enable and Configure vCSA HA
Understand and describe the architecture of vCSA HA
Chapter 10: Administer and Manage vSphere Virtual Machines
Create and manage vSphere Virtual Machines and templates
Determine how using a shared USB device impacts the environment
Configure virtual machines for vGPUs, DirectPath I/O and SR-IOV
Configure virtual machines for multicore vCPUs
Differentiate virtual machine configuration settings
Interpret virtual machine configuration file (.vmx) settings
Enable/disable advanced virtual machine settings
Create and manage a content library
Publish a content catalog
Subscribe to a published catalog
Determine which privileges are required to globally manage a content catalog
Compare the functionality of automatic sync and an on-demand sync
Configure content library to work across sites
Configure content library authentication
Set/configure content library roles
Add/remove content libraries
Consolidate physical workloads using VMware vCenter Converter
Install vCenter Converter standalone instance
Convert physical workloads using vCenter Converter
Modify server resources during conversion
Interpret and correct errors during conversion
Deploy a physical host as a virtual machine using vCenter Converter
Collect diagnostic information during the conversion operation
Resize partitions during the conversion process
Determine which virtual disk format to use
Configure and administer vSphere 6.x security
Configure and administer vSphere 6.x networking
Configure and administer vSphere 6.x storage
Upgrade a vSphere Deployment to 6.x
Administer and manage vSphere 6.x Resources
Backup and recover a vSphere Deployment
Troubleshoot a vSphere Deployment
Deploy and customize ESXi Hosts
Configure and administer vSphere and vCenter Availability Solutions
Administer and manage vSphere Virtual Machines
Appendix A: Understanding VMware Certification Paths
Most required certifications
Certification versus accreditation or awards
Appendix B: VCP6.5-DCV Certification
Required training courses
Holding an active VCP5-DCV or VCP6-DCV
Recommended training courses
Holding an expired VCP-DCV
Required training courses
Holding an active VCP in a different path
Recommended training courses
Order of the different steps
Appendix C: Before, During, and After the Exam
Checking your exam preparation
VMware Certified Professional 6.5 - Data Center Virtualization exam
VMware Certified Professional 6.5 - Data Center Virtualization Delta exam
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Data Center Virtualization Certification: VCP6.5-DCV Exam Guide
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