VCP510 (VCP on vSphere 5) Exam Cram Notes Part 1/3

Sub-sections

1: Auto Deploy
2: HA
3a: Licensing
3b: Licensing – Entitlements per CPU license
3c: Licensing - Features
4: Memory
5: Miscellaneous
6a: Networking - General
6b: Networking - vSphere Distributed Switch
6c: Networking - Ports
7: Storage
8: Update Manager
9a: vCenter
9b: vCenter Server Sizing

1: Auto Deploy
vSphere Auto Deploy installs the ESXi image directly into Host memory.
By default, hosts deployed with VMware Auto Deploy store logs in memory.
When deploying hosts with VMware Auto Deploy, Host Profiles is the recommended method to configure ESXi once it has been installed.
Benefits of auto deploy = decouples the Vmware ESXi host from the physical server and eliminates the boot disk, eliminates configuration drift, simplifies patching and updating.
VMware Auto Deploy Installation = the quickest possible way to deploy > 10 ESXi hosts.
Interactive Installation = recommended install method to evaluate vSphere 5 on a small ESXi host setup.
The vSphere power CLI image builder cmdlet defines the image profiles used with auto deploy.
3 ways that vSphere Auto Deploy can access the answer file: 1) CIFS 2) SFTP 3) HTTP
Note: 6 ways ESXi Scripted installations and upgrades can access installation or upgrade script (kickstart file): 1) CD/DVD 2) USB Flash Drive 3) NFS 4) HTTP 5) HTTPS 6) FTP

2: HA
In a HA cluster after an initial election process, host is either Master or Slave.
vCenter may communicate to the Slaves in certain situations, such as:
i) Scanning for an existing Master.
ii) If the Master states that it cannot reach a Slave, vCenter will contract the Slave to determine why.
iii) When powering on a FT Secondary VM.
iv) When host is reported isolated or partitioned.
A HA Slot = a logical representation of the memory and CPU resources that satisfy the requirements for any powered-on virtual machine in the cluster.
The 4 VM Restart Priority options available on a HA cluster = Disabled, Low, Medium, High.
The three Host Isolation Response options available on a HA Cluster = Shut down, Power off, Leave powered on.
If the 'Admission Control' option 'Disable: Allow VM power on operations that violate availability constraints' is selected, then "if a cluster has insufficient failover capacity, vSphere HA can still perform failovers and it uses the VM Restart Priority setting to determine which virtual machines to power on first."

3a: Licensing
VMware vSphere can be evaluated for 60 days prior to purchase
Free vSphere Hypervisor is allowed 32GB Physical RAM per host
If more vRAM is allocated than licensed for, new VM's cannot be powered on

3b: Licensing - Entitlements per CPU license
32GB vRAM, 8-way vCPU for Essentials, Essentials Plus, Standard
64GB vRAM, 8-way vCPU for Enterprise
96GB vRAM, 32-way vCPU for Enterprise Plus

3c: Licensing - Features
Essentials Plus: High Availability, Data Recovery, vMotion
Standard: as above
Enterprise: + Virtual Serial Port Concentrator, Hot Add, vShield Zones, Fault Tolerance, Storage APIs for Array Integration, Storage vMotion, Distributed Resource Scheduler & Distributed Power Management
Enterprise Plus: + Distributed Switch, I/O Controls (Network and Storage), Host Profiles, Auto deploy, Profile-Driven Storage, Storage DRS

4: Memory
VMX Swap can be used to reduce virtual machine memory overhead.
Memory allocation – memory limit = amount of virtual machine memory that will always be composed of disk pages.
(v)NUMA = (virtual) Non-Uniform Memory Access (a computer memory design used in multiprocessors where the memory access time depends on the memory location relative to a processor.)
vNUMA is enabled by default when a virtual machine has more than 8 vCPU's.
Disabling transparent memory page sharing increases resource contention.
For maximum perfomance benefits of vNUMA, recommend make sure your clusters are composed entirely of hosts with matching NUMA architecture.
Memory reservation = the amount of physical memory that is guaranteed to the VM.
Resource Allocation tab definitions: Host memory usage = amount of physical host memory allocated to a guest (includes virtualisation overhead.)
Resource Allocation tab definitions: Guest memory usage = amount of memory actively used by a guest operating system and it's applications.
3 metrics to diagnose a memory bottleneck at the ESXi host level: MEMCTL, SWAP, ZIP.
Virtual Machine Memory Overhead is determined by Configured Memory and Number of vCPUs.

5: Miscellaneous
New features made available with vSphere 5 = sDRS, VSA, vSphere Web Client, SplitRX...
ESX is no longer available with vSphere 5
Via the Direct Console, it is possible to: (F12) Shut down/Restart host, (F2) Customize System/View Logs - which includes: Configure/Restart/Test Management Network (includes configure host IP, DNS), View System Logs, Troubleshooting Mode Options > Restart Management Agents.
Via the Direct Console, it is NOT possible to: Enter host into Maintenance Mode
vMotion has been improved by allowing multiple vMotion vmknics, allowing for more and faster vMotion operations
Image Builder is used to create ESXi installation images with a customized set of updates, patches, and drivers
Packaging format used by the VMware ESXi Image Builder = VIB
By default, the Administrator role at the ESX Host Server level is assigned to root and vpxuser
Distributed Power Management (DPM) requires Wake On LAN (WOL) technology on host NIC
ESXi 5.0 supports only LAHF and SAHF CPU instructions
The three default roles provided on an ESXi host = No Access, Read Only, Administrator
ESXi Dump Collector is a new feature of vSphere 5
Automation Levels on a DRS Cluster = Manual, Partially Automated, Fully Automated
ESXi 5.0 introduces Virtual Hardware VM Version 8
To disable alarm actions for a DRS cluster while maintenance is taking place: Right-Click the DRS cluster, select Alarm → 'Disable Alarm Actions.'
3 valid objects to place in a vAppResource pools, vApps, Virtual Machines.
Required settings for a kick start ESXi host upgrade script file: root password & IP address.
vMotion cannot be used unless RDM boot mapping files are placed on the same datastore & storage vMotion cannot be used with RDMs using NPIV.
Conditions that would stop virtual machines restarting in the event of a host failure in a HA cluster: 1) An anti-affinity rule configured where restarting the VMs would place them on the same host. 2) The virtual machines on the failed host are HA disabled.
The VMkernel is secured by the features – memory hardening and kernel module integrity.
VMware vCloud Director pools virtual infrastructure resources in datacenters and delivers them to users as a catalog-based service.
Two ways to enable remote tech support mode (SSH) on an ESXi 5.x host: 1) Through the Security Profile pane of the Configuration tab in the vSphere Client. 2) Through the Direct Console User inferface (DCUI.)
%RDY metric is checked to determine if CPU contention exists on an ESXi 5.x host (Note: %RDY = Percentage of time the resource pool, virtual machine, or world was ready to run, but was not provided CPU resources on which to execute.)
Quiescing virtual machine snapshot operation: 1) Requires VMware tools. 2) Ensures that the snapshot includes a power state. 3) May alter the behaviour of applications within the virtual machine. 4) Ensures all pending disk I/O operations are written to disk.
Image Profile Acceptance Levels: Community Supported < Partner Supported < VMware Accepted < VMware Certified (where VMware Certified Acceptance Level has the most stringent requirements.)
Each VMware Data Recovery appliance can have no more than two dedupe destinations, and it is recommended that each dedupe destination is no more than 1TB in size when using virtual disks, and no more than 500GB in size when using a CIFS network share.

6a: Networking - General
ESX 4.X to ESXi 5.0 upgrade removes the "Service Console" port group because ESXi 5.0 has no Service Console.
SplitRX can be used to increase network throughput to virtual machines.
The default security policy on a Port Group = Reject, Accept, Accept (Promiscuous Mode, MAC Address Changes, Forged Transmits.)
ESX 4.X to ESXi 5.0 upgrade process migrates all vswif interfaces to vmk interfaces.
SSH configuration is not migrated for ESX 4.x hosts or ESXi 4.0 hosts (SSH access is disabled during the migration or upgrade process.)
Custom ports that were opened by using the ESX/ESXi 4.1 esxcfg-firewall command do not remain open after upgrade to ESXi 5.0.
A firewall has been added to ESXi 5.0 to improve security.
vSphere Standard Switch Traffic shaping settings: Status – Disabled/Enabled, Average Bandwidth (Kbit/sec), Peak Bandwidth (Kbit/sec), Burst Size (Kbytes.)
To relieve a network bottleneck caused by a VM with occasional high outbound network activity, apply traffic shaping to the port group that contains the virtual machine.
NIC Teaming policy: Notify Switches → the physical switch is notified when the location of a virtual NIC changes.
A remote SSH connection to a newly installed ESXi 5.x host fails, possible causes: 1) The SSH service is disabled on the host by default. 2) The ESXi firewall blocks the SSH protocol by default.
Forged transmits: allows packets to be created by a virtual machine with different source MAC address.
To verify all IP storage VMkernel interfaces are configured for jumbo frames, either: 1) esxcli network IP interface list. 2) View the VMkernel interface properties in the vSphere client.
Map view indicates vMotion is disabled => vMotion has not been enabled on a VMkernel port group.
ESXi Host → Configuration Tab → Network Adapters : Headings = Device, Speed, Configured, Switch, MAC Address, Observed IP Ranges, Wake on LAN Supported.
If you create a portgroup and assign it to VLAN 4095, it will have access to all the VLANs that are exposed to the physical NIC (a special driver is needed within the VM that can properly tag VLANs.)
By default, new adapters are active for all policies, and new adapters carry traffic for the standard switch and its port group unless you specify otherwise.
In IP hash load balancing policy all physical switch ports connected to the active uplinks must be in ether channel mode (Note: if the physical switch ports are not in ether channel mode, new uplinks will be considered active/active but will not participate in the active NIC team until configured correctly on the physical switch.)
6b: Networking - vSphere Distributed Switch
The Dynamic Binding dvPort binding type has been deprecated in vSphere 5 (leaving Ephemeral Binding and Static Binding types.)
Network Load Balancing policies for vSphere Distributed Switch = Route based on originating virtual port; Route based on IP hash; Route based on source MAC hash; Route based on physical NIC load; Use explicit failover order.
Requirements for a collector virtual machine to analyze traffic from a vSphere Distributed Switch: 1) The source and target virtual machines must both be on a vNetwork Switch, but can be on any vDS datacenter. 2) The port group on distributed port must have NetFlow enabled.
Two methods to migrate a virtual machine from a vSphere Standard Switch (VSS) to a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS): 1) Migrate the port group containing the virtual machine from a vNetwork Standard Switch using the Migrate Virtual machine networking option. 2) Edit the Network Adapater settings for the virtual machine and select a dvPort group from the list.
features only available when using a vSphere Distributed Switch: 1) NetFlow monitoring. 2) Network I/O control. 3) Egress and ingress traffic shaping.
New feature: vSphere Distributed Switch - improves visibility of virtual-machine traffic through NetFlow and enhances monitoring and troubleshooting through Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) and Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) support.

6c: Networking - Ports
22: SSH operates on port 22
80: vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to HTTPS port 443
389: This port must be open on the local and all remote instances of vCenter Server. This is the LDAP port number for the Directory Services for the vCenter Server group. The vCenter Server system needs to bind to port 389, even if you are not joining this vCenter Server instance to a Linked Mode group.
443: The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to listen for connections from the vSphere Client. The vCenter Server system also uses port 443 to monitor data transfer from SDK clients.
636: For vCenter Server Linked Mode, this is the SSL port of the local instance.
902: The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to send data to managed hosts. Managed hosts also send a regular heartbeat over UDP port 902 to the vCenter Server system. This port must NOT be blocked by firewalls between the server and the hosts or between hosts. Also must NOT be blocked between the vSphere Client and the hosts. The vSphere Client uses this port to display virtual machine consoles.
8080: Web Services HTTP. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Web Services.
8182: vSphere HA uses TCP and UDP port 8182 for agent-to-agent communication.
8443: Web Services HTTPS. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Web Services.
10109: vCenter Inventory Service Service Management
10111: vCenter Inventory Service Linked Mode Communication
10443: vCenter Inventory Service HTTPS
60099: Web Service change service notification port

7: Storage
vStorage Thin Provisioning feature provides dynamic allocation of storage capacity
Upgrade from VMFS-3 to VMFS-5 requires no downtime
VMFS-5 is introduced by vSphere 5
The globally unique identifier assigned to each Fibre Channel Port = World Wide Name (WWN)
NFS protocol is used by an ESXi host to communicate with NAS devices
It is now possible in vSphere 5 to Storage vMotion virtual machines that have snapshots
Two iSCSI discovery methods supported by an ESXi host = Static Discovery, and Send Targets
VMFS-5 upgraded from VMFS-3 continues to use the previous file block size which may be larger than the unified 1MB file block size
Shared local storage is not a supported location for a host diagnostic partition
The VMware HCL lists the correct MPP (Multi-Pathing Protocol) to use with a storage array
To guarantee a certain level of capacity, performance, availability, and redundancy for a virtual machines storage use the Profile-Driven Storage feature of vSphere 5
Use sDRS (storage DRS) to ensure storage is utilized evenly
If an ESXi 5.x host is configured to boot from Software iSCSI adapter and the administrator disables the iSCSI Software adapter, then it will be disabled but is re-enabled the next time the host boots up.
An array that supports vStorage APIs for array integration (VAAI) can directly perform → Cloning virtual machines and templates; Migrating virtual machines using Storage vMotion.
VAAI thin provisioning dead space reclamation feature can reclaim blocks on a thin provisioned LUN array: 1) When a virtual machine is migrated to a different datastore. 2) When a virtual disk is deleted.
Manage Paths → can disable path by right-clicking and selecting disable.
A preferred path selection can only be made with Fixed 'Path Selection' types (not possible with 'Round Robin' or 'Most Recently Used' types.) 
Information about a VMFS datastore available via the Storage Views tab includes → Multipathing Status, Space Used, Snapshot Space.
Two benefits of virtual compatibility mode RDMs v physical compatibility mode RDMs: 1) Allows for cloning. 2) Allows for template creation of the related virtual machine.
To uplink a Hardware FCoE Adapter, create a vSphere Standard Switch and add the FCoE Adapter as an uplink.
Three storage I/O control conditions that might trigger the non-VI workload detected on the datastore alarm: 1) The datastore is Storage I/O Control-enabled, but it cannot be fully controlled by Storage I/O Control because of an external workload. This can occur if the Storage I/O Control-enabled datastore is connected to an ESX/ESXi host that does not support Storage I/O Control. 2) The datastore is Storage I/O Control-enabled and one or more of the hosts to which the datastore connects is not managed by vCenter Server. 3) The array is shared with non-vSphere workloads or the array is performing system tasks such as replication.
The software iSCSI Adapter and Dependent Hardware iSCSI Adapter require one or more VMkernel ports.
Unplanned Device Loss in a vSphere 5 environment = A condition where an ESXi host determines a device loss has occurred that was not planned. Performing a storage rescan removes the persistent information related to the device.
To convert thin provisioned disk to thick either use the inflate option in the Datastore Browser or use Storage vMotion and change the disk type to Thick.

To manage storage placement by using virtual machine profiles with a storage array that supports vSphere Storage APIs (Storage Awareness):
1 Create user-defined storage capabilities.
2 Associate user-defined storage capabilities with datastores.
3 Enable virtual machine storage profiles for a host or cluster.
4 Create virtual machine storage profiles by defining the storage capabilities that an application running on a virtual machine requires.
5 Associate a virtual machine storage profile with the virtual machine files or virtual disks.
6 Verify that virtual machines and virtual disks use datastores that are compliant with their associated virtual machine storage profile

8: Update Manager
Default Hosts upgrade baselines included with vSphere Update Manager: Critical Host Patches, Non-Critical Host Patches.
Default VMs/VAs upgrade baselines included with vSphere Update Manager: VMware Tools Upgrade to Match Host, VM Hardware Upgrade to Match Host, VA Upgrade to Latest.
vSphere 5 vCenter Update Manager cannot update virtual machine hardware when running against legacy hosts.
Update Manager can update virtual appliances but cannot update the vCenter Server Appliance.

9a: vCenter
vCenter Server 5 requires a 64 Bit DSN.
vCenter Heartbeat product provides high availability for vCenter server.
vCenter requires a valid (internal) domain name system (DNS) registration.
vCenter 4.1 and vCenter 5.0 cannot be joined with Linked-Mode.
The VMware vSphere Storage Appliance manager (VSA manager) is installed on the vSphere 5 vCenter Server System.
Optional components that can be installed from the VMware vSphere 5.0 vCenter Installer: Product Installers) vSphere Client, VMware vSphere Web Client (Server), VMware vSphere Update Manager. Support tools) VMware ESXi Dump Collector, VMware Syslog Collector, VMware Auto Deploy, VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy. Utility) vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker.
Predefined vCenter Server roles are: No access, Read-only, Administrator (there are also 6 sample roles.)
To export ESXi 5.x host diagnostic information / logs from a host managed by a vCenter server instance using the vSphere Client: 1) Home → Administration → System Logs → Export System Logs → Source: select the ESXi host → Select System Logs: Select all → Select a Download Location → Finish. 2) Under 'Hosts and Clusters' view select the ESXi host → File → Export → Export System Logs → Select System Logs: Select all → Select a Download Location → Finish.

9b: vCenter Server Sizing
Medium deployment of up to 50 hosts and 500 powered-on VMs: 2 cores, 4GB RAM, 5GB disk
Large deployment of up to 300 hosts and 3000 powered-on VMs: 4 cores, 8GB RAM, 10GB disk
Extra-Large deployment of up to 1000 hosts and 10'000 powered-on VMs: 8 cores, 16GB RAM, 10GB disk
TIP: Can use these notes to study for VCP510 (VCP 5) on iPhone / Android / Smartphone internet browser

Comments

  1. Hi I have my exam tomorrow and this site looks great so thank you very much. I am a little confused about the Update Manager part that advises it can upgrade the vCenter Appliance, I was under the impression that VUM was not supported on the appliance because it has to run on an MS SQL DB and the appliance runs on SUSE and DB2. Could you possibly clear that up for me please as I am starting to doubt myself at very turn here!!! Also I have noticed there are a lot of exam cheat sheets flying around with incorrect answers, so I will not even look at them incase they set me down the wrong trail, are any of your notes from them? Sorry to ask, I know it is very cheeky, I am just very nervous about the exam and worried about everything I read, and it doesnt help that I keep confusung myself too :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi DeanUK
    Thank you for your comment.
    Update Manager can update the vCenter Appliance but the vCenter Appliance does not support Update Manager (if you use the vCenter Appliance you would install Update Manager on a different system.)
    The exam cram notes (compiled for a first VCP5 in a certain corporation attempt) only has verfied information from the sources listed.
    Parts 1 & 2 can be read nicely from an iPhone or similar within a 30minute train commute.
    Cheers
    Vidad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
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  3. Just wanted to say I passed my exam today and this blog was an amazing help thank you very much :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Dean, thanks again for the comment. I passed also on the 12th October :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was on conference about VMWare vSphere 5.0.
    A techguy told that 5.0 has a limitation to 96GB RAM per resource pool. I'm testing vSphere 5.0 since 2 months, but this is my second approach ;) we have 4.0 in production already, on 6 esx hosts currently.
    You can go to http://toomeek.waw.pl/blog and take a look. Your blog is a very helpful resource..

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Vidad Cosonok, can you please confirm this part here "Image profile level of 'VMware Supported' accepts VMwareAccepted and CommunitySupported drivers to be included in an image" Is there such thing as a level called VMware Supprted?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Anonymous
    Yes, that appears to be a mistake, have corrected with:
    Image Profile Acceptance Levels: CommunitySupported < PartnerSupported < VMwareAccepted < VMwareCertified (where VMwareCertified Acceptance Level has the most stringent requirements.)
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi TooMeek
    Sounds like the techguy you were speaking to had a slip of the tongue - 96GB is the vRAM entitlement per Enterprise Plus CPU license. A single VM can have up to 1TB memory in vSphere 5, and a resource pool can have up to 1024 children.
    Cheers

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  9. hi guys may you please advice as to how many questions in this exam.I'm a bit nervous about the exam.M writing it on friday.Please help with the correct dumps.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Alex,
    The exam is 85 questions in 90 minutes (see part 3.) Good luck with the exam!
    Cheers
    PS If English is not your first language, I believe they give you another 30 minutes for the exam but don't take my word for it.

    ReplyDelete
  11. no mention of LLDP on networking and SPAN as well... just a note.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi,

    first: thanks for the 3 sites of notes. I have learnd ALL the stuff you write here. I think i know now 85-90% of them. Today i had my exam... it was terrible. Only ONE question was from this blog, from the MOCK exam, from the books and from other blogs or other test exams.... so i failed with 290 points ;(
    All my questions where troubleshooting, distributes switch, VSA, performance analyse. But this questions are VERY heavy, not so easy like the test exams... if you dont work month or better years, you cant know the right answer.
    So i have a new problem: how can i learn? I have ALL the tipps and news in the internet done... should i do "learning by doing"? i have to pass the exam this year but i have no idea what i can learn ;(
    Do you have any tipps?
    Thanks, Frank.
    PS: sorry for my bad englisch, i am from Germany.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Chad, apologies for the late reply, been away. Thank you for the comment, I have added a little bit about LLDP and SPAN. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Anonymous 11 November, these notes are just an exam cram aid before the exam (I tend to run though them on my iPhone.) I'd recommend running through a good manual and VMware's vSphere 5 documentation, setting up a vSphere 4 & 5 test lab (can run a vSphere test lab in VMware workstation or Oracle's free VirtualBox) and getting good experience. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  15. COSONOK!!!

    hehe I am back again friend... I have a request if you dont mind. Could you please explain to me why these three are used for memory bottlenecks troubleshooting?
    3 metrics to diagnose a memory bottleneck at the ESXi host level: MEMSZ, MEMCTL, SWAP.

    This gets debated alot sir would appreciate your reply!

    You can also post thoughts here:
    http://certcollection.org/forum/topic/143147-vcp-510-updated-dump-and-links

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello Anonymous

    Easiest to answer with a quick post for my take on this, please see:

    http://cosonok.blogspot.com/2011/11/using-memsz-memctl-swap-to-diagnose.html

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your notes still say MEMCTL, SWAP and ZIP. Should ZIP be removed and MEMSZ added?

      Delete
    2. Hi Anonymous, MEMSZ is the "amount of memory allocated to a virtual machine", ZIP is "the compressed memory per second." Too much ZIP might be a sign of memory bottleneck. Cheers!

      Delete
  17. Thanks for putting this list together. It was a great help during my studies and contributed significantly to passing the exam last Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thank you for the comment gb. I am pleased these notes proved helpful. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  19. This says Part 1 or 3? Is there a part 2 and 3? Thank you very much for the work involved in putting this together. You are helping a lot of people.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi GRB, thank you for the comment. Yes there is a part 2 and 3; the links are either in the 2011 Contents page on the left pane, or in the Blog Archive bit on the right pane, and below for convenience. Cheers!

    http://cosonok.blogspot.com/2011/10/vcp510-vcp-on-vsphere-5-exam-cram-notes_06.html

    http://cosonok.blogspot.com/2011/10/vcp510-vcp-on-vsphere-5-exam-cram-notes_16.html

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you for this!! It has been a great reference as I study!! I made flash cards from the information you've posted here since the seem to help me study! Here is a link if anyone wants all of this awesome information in a flash card set --> [http://quizlet.com/_5aaoc]

    I'm scheduled to take my exam 12.29.11 and am extremely nervous given my lack of years in the vmware world. Any additional advice you would like to share??

    Great Job passing your exam!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello ITgirl, thank you for the comment. Excellent work with the flash card set. Apart from the advice posted in parts 1,2,3 of these VCP5 exam notes, the only additional advice I can give is to make sure you know your stuff, don't dwell too long on any questions - as 85 questions in 90 minutes needs a good turn of speed - and finally - good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks!! After todays disastrous esxi5 install.. luck is exactly what I need!

    I have a question, when you set up HA as a new cluster, and you go through the steps of the wizard... when you come to the screen where it prompts for you to select the datastore(s) for the heartbeat... what do you do when none of the datastores appear?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hello ITgirl, I'm guessing you are trying to configure either vCenter Heartbeat, or vCenter Site Recovery Manager, or both - best reference is VMware's support docs, their installation guides are very detailed; also can normally find good video guides on youtube. It is unlikely you will see the aforementioned products mentioned in the VCP5 exam. Apologies I cannot help with your question in more detail here. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  25. ... thank you for the suggestions. I was finally able to see what my 'issue' was. I appreciate your help! BTW... I did not pass my exam (bummer).. I will try again in 14 day!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Vidad,
    Thanks much for your notes.
    I do believe however that this is not correct.

    1)Update Manager can be used to upgrade the vCenter Server Appliance.

    2)vCenter Service Appliance remediation via Update Manager 5.0 first requires configuration on the Appliance Administration page.

    I have read from vmware that the appliance is not updatable via VUM. Import config keys etc is what is done.
    Remediation of the vcenter server appliance is not supported.

    Can you reference this as I would like to be clear on the correct info, thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Anonymous, thank you for pointing out the errors. You are 100% correct. Update manager can update virtual appliances but cannot update the vCenter Server Appliance. From: http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp

      "Because the VMware vCenter Server Appliance was first released with vSphere 5.0, upgrading the appliance is not required until a future release. This information helps you plan for future upgrades.

      Procedure
      1) Deploy the new version of the vCenter Server Appliance.
      The new appliance has a default network configuration, and the vCenter Server service is unconfigured and disabled.
      2) Connect to both the old and new appliances in separate browser windows.
      3) In the Upgrade tab of the new appliance, select destination for the appliance role, and click Set role.
      4) In the Upgrade tab of the old appliance, select source for the appliance role, and click Set role.
      5) In each appliance, click Establish Trust.
      The local appliance key appears.
      6) In the new appliance, copy the local appliance key.
      7) Paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field of the old appliance.
      8) Click Import remote key in the old appliance.
      9) In the old appliance, copy the local appliance key.
      10) Paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field of the new appliance.
      11) Click Import remote key in the new appliance.
      12) In the new appliance, click Import, and click Start import.
      The new appliance shuts down the old appliance and assumes the network identity of the old appliance. This process can take several minutes. When the import is complete, the new vCenter Server Appliance starts."

      Delete
  27. 3 ways that vSphere Auto Deploy can access the answer file: 1) CIFS. 2) SFTP. 3) HTTP.

    See page 44 on the vsphere installation and setup PDF
    Locations Supported for Installation or Upgrade Scripts

    In scripted installations and upgrades, the ESXi installer can access the installation or upgrade script, also called
    the kickstart file, from several locations.
    The following locations are supported for the installation or upgrade script:
    n CD/DVD. See “Create an Installer ISO Image with a Custom Installation or Upgrade Script,” on page 16.
    n USB Flash drive. See “Create a USB Flash Drive to Store the ESXi Installation or Upgrade Script,” on
    page 15.
    n A location accessible with the following protocols: NFS, HTTP, HTTPS, FTP

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hello Anonymous, thank you for the comment. I cannot verify 100% that the vSphere Auto Deploy and scripted installations access the answer file in the same way. Kind of makes sense that they would. I would be very grateful if anyone can comment on this for sure. In the meantime I have added another line for "6 ways ESXi Scripted installations and upgrades can access installation or upgrade script." Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Regarding
    6b: Networking - vSphere Distributed Switch
    The Dynamic Binding dvPort binding type has been removed in vSphere 5 (leaving Ephemeral Binding and Static Binding types.)

    I have a vSphere 5 vDS in my lab and noticed that I have the following port group port binding options show in the drop down list: "Static binding, Dynamic binding, and Ephemeral - no binding."

    Am I looking at something different from you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, that you very much for the comment. You are correct, Dynamic binding is still in the list but the option has been deprecated in vSphere 5. I have changed the word "removed" to "deprecated" and added a couple of screenshots to clarify. Cheers!

      Delete
  30. Regarding
    If the (the)'Admission Control' option 'Disable: Allow VM power on operations that violate availability constraints' is selected, then only VMs with a high restart priority are restarted on surviving ESXi hosts.

    Just tried this out in my vsphere 5 lab and low, medium, and high priority VMs all came up on the surviving cluster node after yanking the power on cluster node they were all on. The vm with HA set to disabled didn't come up on the surviving node. Note was the case with VM Tool Monitoring disabled. With it turned on, all the VMs came up as expected.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Anonymous, thank you very much for the comment. Yes that entry was not correct. I have removed the "only VMs with a high restart priority are restarted on surviving ESXi hosts" and replaced with the following line from the VMware's vSphere documentation "if a cluster has insufficient failover capacity, vSphere HA can still perform failovers and it uses the VM Restart Priority setting to determine which virtual machines to power on first." Cheers!

      Delete
  31. Thanks for the notes! I passed today :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Anonymous, thank you for the comment and congratulations on your pass!

      Delete
  32. Using some test dumps, Question on a VM with multiple vCPUs which metric is checked to determine if CPU contention exists on an ESXi5.x host? Dump answer is %RDY and explains that %WAIT includes total wait time, not just CPU (includes I/O wait, idle time and other resources). Can you explain why you chose %WAIT over %RDY? Thank You.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Anonymous, thank you for the comment. %RDY is the correct answer. From the vSphere 5 documentation:
      %RDY = Percentage of time the resource pool, virtual machine, or world was ready to run, but was not provided CPU resources on which to execute.
      %WAIT = Percentage of time the resource pool, virtual machine, or world spent in the blocked or busy wait state. This percentage includes the percentage of time the resource pool, virtual machine, or world was idle.

      Delete
  33. Port 8182 for vsphere 5 HA.

    http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp?topic=/com.vmware.vsphere.avail.doc_50/GUID-7442EF04-56C9-4910-ACBA-DF42E97ED311.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, thank you for the comment. I have added port 8182 into the notes. Cheers!

      Delete
  34. Regarding
    "Via the Direct Console, it is possible to: Configure Host DNS, Shutdown host, view host logs."

    In addition at the console.
    F2 to logon > Troubleshooting Options > Restart Management Agents
    "The management agents are programs that allow remote management software to monitor and control this host. Restarting the management agents will disconnect all remote management software and will effect all running services."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, thank you for the comment. I have added a bit more to the notes regarding Restarting Management Agents. Cheers!

      Delete
  35. Regarding
    "Three storage I/O control conditions that might trigger the non-VI workload detected on the datastore alarm: 1) The datastore is on an array that is performing system tasks such as replication. 2) The datastore is utilizing active/passive multipathing or NMP (Native Multi-Pathing.) 3) The datastore is storing virtual machines with one or more snapshots."

    Here is what I found in a vmware KB.

    Specific situations that can trigger this event include:

    - The host is running in an unsupported configuration. (pre ESX 4.1)
    - The storage array is performing a system operation such as replication or RAID reconstruction.
    - VMware Consolidated Backup or vStorage APIs for Data Protection are accessing a snapshot on the datastore for backup purposes.
    -The storage media (spindles, SSD) on which this datastore is located is shared with volumes used by non-vSphere workloads

    http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1020651

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, the entry in the notes should be sufficient for the exam. Thank you very much for adding additional detail, and the link is excellent further reading for causes of the non-VI workload alarm. Cheers!

      Delete
    2. Vidad - I can not find any reference to NMP (Native Multi-Pathing) or the datastore storing VM's with one or more snapshots being causes of this error. Can you provide a reference location? Other literature I have shows different answers so I am trying to validate my notes. Thanks!

      Delete
    3. Hi Anonymous, I have updated with:
      Three storage I/O control conditions that might trigger the non-VI workload detected on the datastore alarm: 1) The datastore is Storage I/O Control-enabled, but it cannot be fully controlled by Storage I/O Control because of an external workload. This can occur if the Storage I/O Control-enabled datastore is connected to an ESX/ESXi host that does not support Storage I/O Control. 2) The datastore is Storage I/O Control-enabled and one or more of the hosts to which the datastore connects is not managed by vCenter Server. 3) The array is shared with non-vSphere workloads or the array is performing system tasks such as replication.
      Cheers!

      Delete
  36. When a new link is added to a vSphere Standard Switch configured with IP based load balancing uplinks - by default configuration- from page 46 networking guide on failover and load balancing policy

    By default, new adapters are active for all
    policies. New adapters carry traffic for the standard switch and its port group unless you specify otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, I have removed the:

      "When a new uplink is added to a vSphere Standard Switch configured with IP based load balancing uplinks – by default configuration – the uplink is considered active/active but it will not participate in the active NIC team until assigned to a port group."

      And amended with two new entries:

      1: "By default, new adapters are active for all policies (new adapters carry traffic for the standard switch and its port group unless you specify otherwise.)"
      2: "In IP hash load balancing policy all physical switch ports connected to the active uplinks must be in ether channel mode (if the physical switch ports are not in ether channel mode, new uplinks will be considered active/active but will not participate in the active NIC team until configured correctly on the physical switch.)"

      Alas I had no physical switch to play with to verify 100%, but the theory seems sound. Cheers!

      Delete
    2. When adding a new adapter to a VSS, and clicking through the wizard, one of the wizard boxes shows the new adapter. The new adapter shows up in the Active Adapter section of the Policy Failover Order box (it has a green plus icon on it). You DO have the ability to push it down to the Standby Adapters section before clicking next.

      Delete
  37. Dumps are very confusing on this one, what is your opinion on correct answer?
    Under which condition will vCenter Server communicate directly with a vSphere HA Slave?
    A. When distributing the host compatibility list
    b. When an update is needed for the list of powered on VMS
    c. When powering on a FT secondary VM
    d. When distributing cluster config updates

    Most seem to think either a or b, but one dump shows c as answer. Looked everywhere can't find a good answer.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! I'd think d but I might be wrong. Reason being that vCenter communicates directly with the master, and the master handles communication with the slaves, so the only occassion for it to communicate with a HA Slave would be either to re-elect a master, or distribute a cluster config update (such as enabling/disabling host monitoring.)
      For more information see http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-availability-guide.pdf. The answer would probably be found in Duncan Epping and Frank Dennemans' "vSphere 5.0 Clustering Technical Deepdive."

      Delete
    2. Hello Al, thank you very much for sharing this. You have found the answer! I will update my post accordingly. Cheers!

      Delete
  38. The question about VM restart in HA when anti affinity rule exists.

    People have tested that VMs will be restarted if
    only one host remains with VM-VM anti affinity,
    but will not restart on a host that is in a "required DRS Group" or ("VM-Host") rule

    Thanks for taking the time to produce these notes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Matt, thank you for the comment. Cheers!

      Delete
  39. Regarding "VCP510 (VCP on vSphere 5) Exam Cram Notes Part 1/3 "

    I passed my VCP510 exam(over 90%) earlier this past week. This site was very very helpful when I was studying. Also, having a hands on lab is invaluable to passing this test. Being able to effectively interpret performance statistics is something that is important as well. I found this link to be helpful.

    http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-11812

    Thanks again....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, thank you very much for the comment and congratulations on your pass. Your link contains very good information and I have added it to the body of the article. Cheers!

      Delete
  40. Thanks a lot for your notes. It helped me to pass VCP510.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the comment and congratulations on your pass!

      Delete
  41. I passed the VCP510 this morning with a 417/500 and this website was extremly helpful! Although I upgraded both vCenter Server and vSphere ESXi from 4.1 to 5 at work I couldn't believe how many more new features are available in vSphere 5 that we weren't using. I highly recommend that you download the VCP510 Blueprint from Jason Langer's website (http://virtuallanger.com/vcp5/) and know it like the back of your hand. That together with real world experience (and this blog) will help you pass the Exam. Good luck everyone!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous, thank you very much for the comment. I agree that Jason Langer's VCP5 resources are very good and have added the link to the list of useful VCP5 resources. Cheers!

      Delete
  42. Hi Vidad,

    "To verify all IP storage VMkernel interfaces are configured for jumbo frames, either: 1) esxcli network IP interface list. 2) View the VMkernel interface properties in the vSphere client.
    Map view indicates vMotion is disabled => vMotion has not been enabled on a VMkernel port group."

    Please note that I looked up VMware documentation and found that the command: esxcfg -vswitch -l gives you the output for MTU size, example:

    Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports MTU Uplinks
    vSwitch1 128 8 128 9000 vmnic4,vmnic5

    This is also one of the choices in the question.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Trianard, thank you for the comment. Apologies for the late reply as away on holiday. You are correct that "esxcfg-vswitch -l" provides an output for MTU size, but this is for the vswitch itself and does not indicate the VMkernels belonging to the vswitch will have the correct MTU.

      Delete
  43. Question regarding the following:

    "Required settings for a kick start ESXi host upgrade script file: root password & IP address."

    Isn't the three required options accepteula, rootpw, and location? IP address is defined in the network section, which is optional isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good question - time permitting - I will verify this later. Cheers!

      Delete
  44. thanks this was a great help in preparation for passing my vcp5 a few weeks ago! Alot of the course info is very dispersed and this brought alot of relevant info together in a quick stop shop.
    Cheers from Eire.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Very good resource. Thanks! This helped me passing my VCP5 on the first attempt.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Your exam cram notes are spot on. I reviewed them three times in the two hours before the exam and the information helped with at least three questions. Thanks so much and I highly recommend your work.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Just had an exam yesterday...I have done ALL the test exams online that you can find and download with torrents and virtual certexams.....and failed with 280 points (300 needed). Its really hard if you dont have couple of years experience with ESX. This makes it a paradox, because you dont get to work without the certification.
    Anyway...all but one of the 85 questions on the current VCP510 exam were brand new to me and were not in all the test exams I mentioned above !!! Trust me..im pretty sure I tried them all..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty strange - and all across the boards I see people praising the dumps and confirming that they are as correct as possible ...

      Delete
  48. I started the prepartion for the Exam, i got a doubt regarding port grouping ?
    Is this means that Grouping of VLAN are called port grouping?
    Or
    connecting two or more VM's to the same Vswitch port?

    ReplyDelete
  49. Excellent notes. I passed VCP 5 today and this notes helped me. Thank you very much.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Taking the VCP-5 today. Your notes along with the study guide in your links (and pass4sure) will hopefully mean I pass with flying colours!

    ReplyDelete
  51. I am taking my VCP-5DV Exam in two weeks. I can tell you that these mock exams and other brain dumps are invaluable.....BUT ONLY after you have taken the time to set up your lab, take the VMware approved course, read Mastering vSphere 5....and then study some more. I didn't even look at the mock exams until I had my physical lab setup, took the approved Fast Track and read the book. I am using the mock tests to familiarize myself with how the questions are asked and then to fill in gaps of knowledge. If you want to make it as a vSphere Admin, do the ground work first. I set my lab up and started studying in mid September, went through the TrainSignal video/slides to get a good introduction into the product and then in late November took the one week 50 Hour Fast Track class. Since the class was on line and recorded, I watched it one more time and then began reading Mastering vSphere 5 by Scott Lowe. I have about 200 hours invested into this quest. I only intend to take the exam once. Like Dad always said, there are no shortcuts...and proper planning prevents piss poor performance.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Well this helps me a lot in preparation of vcp exam. I did go through different study guides, but found this article very helpful too. I did go through vcp-510 practice test to feel the heat of real time exam environment. Any ways nice share... keep it up

    ReplyDelete
  53. Thank you so much for putting the effort into making these amazingly concise and detailed notes and then making them available for the public. Between these notes and several other blogs and resources I passed my VCP5-DV today with a great score! Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Thank you very much for this post. It is really helpful for me and I passed my exam today

    ReplyDelete
  55. thanks for share....

    ReplyDelete
  56. Buddy thank you so much for this study guide. I spend to months learning every thing in here. Today, I pass my exam with a score of 394. Thanks it feels awesome!!!

    ReplyDelete
  57. hi guys i am new to vmware vsphere i want to take exam of vcp 510 i have TrainSignal videos clips and mastering of vmware vsphere 5 i am read at books and practicing at home MY Question is can i take the exam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you can take the exam any-time that you feel are ready. However, to get an idea of where you are you should take the mock exam offered by vmware. I also put together this guide:
      http://csis.pace.edu/adelgado/wp/

      Delete
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  62. I used https://exambraindumps.com/VMware.html exam practice software to help prepare myself to take the certification exam. I had tried other sources for test prep, but found them to be far superior. I passed the exam with no problems, because I went into the exam as prepared as anyone could be.

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