I’ll be following the VCAP6-DCV Deployment Exam Blueprint.
Section 1: Create and Deploy vSphere 6.x Infrastructure Components
Objective 1.1 – Perform Advanced ESXi Host Configuration
- Configure and Manage Auto Deploy configurations
- Determine Use Case for Stateless vs. Stateful Installs
- Create and Modify Rules and Rule Sets
- Create and Associate Host Profiles for an Auto Deploy Reference Host
- Configure Kernel Boot Parameters for scripted install according to a deployment plan:
- Configure Advanced System Settings according to a deployment plan:
Objective 1.2 – Deploy and Configure Core Management Infrastructure Components
- Deploy vCenter core components according to a deployment plan
- Deploy and Configure Identity Sources for Single Sign-On
- Manage / Configure vCenter components according to a deployment plan
- Configure Single Sign-On Users and Groups
- Change Default Domain for Single Sign-on
- List Services Registered with Single Sign-On
- Deploy and Configure vCenter Server
- Deploy/Configure Enhanced Linked Mode
Objective 1.3 – Deploy and Configure Update Manager Components
- Deploy / Configure Update Manager components according to a deployment plan
- Configure VUM Update Manager Download Service
- Configure a VUM Shared Repository
- Configure VUM Smart Rebooting
- Manually Download Updates to a VUM Repository
- Create & Modify VUM Baseline Groups
- Perform VUM orchestrated vSphere upgrades
- Troubleshoot Update Manager problem areas and issues
- Utilize Update Manager to reconfigure VUM settings
Objective 1.4 – Perform Advanced Virtual Machine Configurations
- Tune Virtual Machine disk controller configurations according to a deployment plan
- Configure .vmx file for advanced configuration scenarios
- Configure a virtual machine for Hot Add features
- Upgrade virtual machine hardware and VMware Tools
- Troubleshoot virtual machine deployment issues
Section 2 – Deploy and Manage a vSphere 6.x Storage Infrastructure
Objective 2.1 – Implement Complex Storage Solutions
- Determine Use Cases for Raw Device Mapping (RDM)
- Apply storage presentation charactoristics according to a deployment plan
- Create/Configure multiple VMkernals for use with iSCSI port bindings
- Configure / Manage vSphere Flash Read Cache
- Create / Configure Datastore Clusters
- Upgrade VMware storage infrastructure
- Deploy virtual volumes
- Deploy and configure VMware Virtual SAN
- Configure / View VMFS locking mechanisms
- Configure Storage I/O Control to allow I/O prioritization
- Configure Storage Multi-pathing according to a deployment plan
Objective 2.2 – Manage Complex Storage Solutions
- Identify and tag (mark) SSD and local devices
- Administer hardware acceleration for VAAI
- Configure, administer, and apply storage policies
- Prepare storage for maintenance
- Apply space utilization data to manage storage resources
- Provision and manage storage resources according to Virtual Machine requirements
- Configure datastore alarms, including Virtual SAN alarms
- Expand (Scale up / Scale Out) Virtual SAN hosts and diskgroups
Objective 2.3 – Troubleshoot Complex Storage Solutions
- Analyze and resolve storage multi-pathing and failover issues
- Troubleshoot storage device connectivity
- Analyze and resolve Virtual SAN configuration issues
- Troubleshoot iSCSI connectivity issues
- Analyze and resolve NFS issues
- Troubleshoot RDM issues
Section 3 – Deploy and Manage a vSphere 6.x Network Infrastructure
Objective 3.1 – Implement and Manage vSphere Standard Switch (vSS) Networks
- Create and manage vSS components according to a deployment plan
- Configure TCP/IP stack on a host
- Create a custom TCP/IP stack
- Configure and analyze vSS settings using command line tools
Objective 3.2 – Implement and Manage vSphere 6.x Distributed Switch (vDS) Networks
- Deploy a LAG and migrate to LACP
- Migrate a vSS network to a hybrid or full vDS solution
- Analyze vDS settings using command line tools
- Configure Advanced vDS settings (NetFlow, QOS, etc.)
- Determine which appropriate discovery protocol to use for specific hardware vendors
- Configure VLANs/PVLANs according to a deployment plan
- Create / Apply traffic marking and filtering rules
Objective 3.3 – Scale a vSphere 6.x Network Implementation
- Configure appropriate NIC teaming failover type and related physical network settings
- Determine and apply failover settings according to a deployment plan
- Configure and manage network I/O control 3
- Determine and configure vDS port binding settings according a deployment plan
Objective 3.4 – Troubleshoot a vSphere 6.x Network Implementation
- Perform a vDS Health Check for teaming, MTU, mismatches, etc.
- Configure port groups to properly isolate network traffic
- Use command line tools to troubleshoot and identify configuration issues
- Use command line tools to troubleshoot and identify VLAN configurations
- Use DCUI network tool to correct network connectivity issue
Section 4 – Configure a vSphere Deployment for Availability and Scaleability
Objective 4.1 – Implement and Maintain Complex vSphere Availability Solutions
- Configure a HA cluster to meet resource and availability requirements
- Configure custom isolation response settings
- Configure VM Component Protection (VMCP)
- Configure HA redundancy settings
- Configure HA related alarms and analyze a HA cluster
- Configure VMware Fault Tolerance for single and multi-vCPU virtual machines
Objective 4.2 – Implement and Manage Complex DRS Solutions
- Configure DPM, including appropriate DPM threshold
- Configure / Modify EVC mode on an existing DRS cluster
- Create DRS and DPM alarms
- Configure applicable power management settings for ESXi hosts
- Configure DRS cluster for efficient/optimal load distribution
- Properly apply virtual machine automation levels based upon application requirements
- Administer DRS / Storage DRS
- Create DRS / Storage DRS affinity and anti-affinity rules
- Configure advanced DRS / Storage DRS settings
- Configure and Manage vMotion / Storage vMotion
- Create and manage advanced resource pool configurations
Objective 4.3 – Troubleshoot vSphere Clusters
- Analyze and resolve DRS/HA faults
- Troubleshoot DRS/HA configuration issues
- Troubleshoot Virtual SAN/HA interoperability
- Resolve vMotion and storage vMotion issues
- Troubleshoot VMware Fault Tolerance
Section 5 – Configure a vSphere Deployment from Manageability
Objective 5.1 – Execute VMware Cmdlets and Customize Scripts Using PowerCLI
- Install and configure vSphere PowerCLI
- Use basic and advanced PowerCLI Cmdlets to manage a vSphere deployment
- Analyze a sample script, then modify the script to perform a given action
- Use PowerCLI to configure and administer Auto Deploy (including Image Builder)
- Create a report from a PowerCLI script
Objective 5.2 – Implement and Maintain Host Profiles
- Use Profile Editor to edit and / or disable policies
- Create and apply host profiles
- Use Host Profiles to deploy vDS
- Use Host Profiles to deploy vStorage policies
- Import / Export Host Profiles
- Manage Answer Files
- Configure stateful caching and installation for host deployment
Objective 5.3 – Manage and analyze vSphere log files
- Generate vSphere log bundles
- Configure and test centralized logging
- Analyze log entries to obtain configuration information
- Analyze log entries to identify and resolve issues
- Configure logging levels for vSphere
Objective 5.4 – Configure and manage Content Library
- Create a Global User
- Create a Content Library
- Subscribe to a Content Library
- Configure a Content Library for space efficiency
- Synchronize a subscribed Content Library
Section 6 – Configure a vSphere Deployment for Performance
Objective 6.1 – Utilize Advanced vSphere Performance Monitoring Tools
- Configure esxtop / resxtop custom profiles
- Evaluate use cases for and apply esxtop / resxtop Interactive, Batch and Replay modes
- Use vScsiStats to gather storage performance data
- Use esxtop / resxtop to collect performance data
- Given esxtop / resxtop output, identify relative performance data for capacity planning purposes
Objective 6.2 – Optimize Virtual Machine resources
- Adjust Virtual Machine properties according to a deployment plan
- Troubleshoot Virtual Machine performance issues based on application workload
- Modify Transparent Page Sharing and large memory page settings
- Optimize a Virtual Machine for latency sensitive workloads
- Configure Flash Read Cache reservations
Section 7 – Configure a vSphere 6.x Environment for Recoverability
Objective 7.1 – Deploy and manage vSphere Replication
- Configure and Manage a vSphere Replication Infrastructure
- Analyze and resolve vSphere Replication issues
Objective 7.2 – Deploy and Manage vSphere Data Protection
- Create, edit and clone a vSphere Data Protection backup job
- Modify a pre-configured backup job.
- Backup and restore a Virtual Machine (file level restore, full VM backup)
- Create a replication job according to a deployment plan
- Configure a Backup Verification job to ensure integrity of restore points
Objective 7.3 – Backup and Recover vSphere Configurations
- Backup and restore distributed switch configurations
- Backup and restore resource pool configurations
- Export Virtual Machines to OVA/OVF format
- Use a Host profile to recover an ESXi host configuration
Section 8 – Configure a vSphere 6.x Environment for Security
Objective 8.1 – Manage authentication and end-user security
- Add/Edit Remove users on an ESXi host
- Configure vCenter Roles and Permissions according to a deployment plan
- Configure and manage Active Directory integration
- Analyze logs for security-related messages
- Enable and configure an ESXI Pass Phrase
- Disable the Managed Object Browser (MOB) to reduce attack surface
Objective 8.2 – Manage SSL certificates
- Configure and manage VMware Certificate Authority
- Configure and manage VMware Endpoint Certificate Store
- Enable / Disable certificate checking
- Generate ESXi host certificates
- Replace default certificate with CA-signed certificate
- Configure SSL timeouts according to a deployment plan