VMware vSphere 7: Build, Configure and Manage Like a Pro

Outline virtualization basics and steps to install VMware Workstation and ESXi, boot a VM from USB, configure an iSCSI data store, upload Windows iso to ESXi, and connect to ESXi.

Set up a virtual environment with VMware Workstation (preferred) to install two ESXi hosts and a vCenter Server, plus an Active Directory VM; ensure i5, 16 gb ram, and ssd.

Install VMware Workstation on Windows by running as administrator, accepting license, enabling the keyboard driver, and rebooting to apply changes; choose a license or 30-day trial and view evaluation status.

Download ESXi and vCenter Server from VMware.com using the trial option, log in to access a 60-day practice, and install ESXi with OEM customized installers and vCenter Server Appliance.

Learn to boot a VM from a USB drive in VMware Workstation by creating a bootable USB (FreeDOS or ISO image) and installing ESXi or Windows Server.

Configure the ESXi management network and two iSCSI addresses using VMnet zero bridging, assign static IPv4, DNS, and test connectivity to validate iSCSI reachability in a lab.

Configure iSCSI and ESXi management network using F2 and F11, test connectivity with ping and DHCP, and use the network restore option to reset to defaults, including IPv6.

Connect to an ESXi host through a browser to access iSCSI, monitor CPU, memory, and storage, and learn how vCenter enables centralized management and VM cloning.

Configure ESXi settings by entering the IP address, root password, networking, hostname, DNS, and default gateway, and review CPU and memory. Explore virtual networking, licensing, data stores, and creating VMs.

Create and expand vmfs datastores in ESXi to provision virtual machine storage, allocate disk space, restart ESXi to apply changes, and prepare a data store for ISO-based VM installation.

Learn how to create and install a Windows Server 2019 VM in ESXi 7, including ISO upload, VM options (new, OVF/OVA, register), datastore setup, hardware config, and GUI desktop installation.

Connect to an ESXi host using VMware Workstation to access iSCSI, monitor resources, and create or install virtual machines, with easier, faster navigation than a browser.

Understand why we need Active Directory, configure dns for vCenter and ESXi, and deploy vCenter appliance. Enable auto start and explore vSphere client, virtual machine tools, and ova uploads.

Integrate Active Directory with vCenter Server to simplify user management and auditing, centralize access via AD users and groups, and rely on DNS for vCenter installation.

Create and configure a Windows Server 2019 VM in vSphere 7 to deploy Active Directory, set hostname and admin credentials, and configure network and IP settings for AD.

Learn how to create a Windows template in VMware Workstation, prepare it with sysprep, disable firewall, expand disks, enable template mode, take a snapshot, and deploy VMs via cloning.

Install and configure Active Directory domain services, set up DNS, promote the server to a domain controller for a new forest named lab.local, and verify prerequisites.

Create a dns a record for vcenter, including vcsa and iSCSI hosts, assign ip addresses, and verify hostname resolution with ping.

Deploy the vCenter appliance from Active Directory to ESXi, using the VCSA UI installer in two phases, configuring IP, DNS, NTP, and vSphere Local SSO.

Add ESXi to vCenter by creating a lab and adding two hosts, ESXi 01.lab.local and ESXi 02.lab.local, with certificate acceptance and an evaluation license; in production use qualified domain names.

Configure auto start for ESXi hosts and virtual machines, including vCenter Server, by editing settings, enabling auto start, and arranging the automatic start order in vCenter.

Verify autostart for vCenter Server on ESXi, enabling automatic startup after power or network recovery; test with ping and snapshot for disaster, and observe the appliance boot within minutes.

Take a snapshot from the vSphere lab to enable rollback of virtual machines, including ESXi and vCenter Server, and you can revert or delete snapshots when needed.

Enable SSH on ESXi and enable iSCSI shell via vCenter or the DC UI; use PuTTY to connect via SSH, test connectivity, and troubleshoot iSCSI networks.

Access the esxi dcui console via ssh, enter the dcui interface, and configure password and network settings, including iSCSI options, using the on-screen ui.

Access the vcenter server management UI at port 5480, log in with root credentials, view the summary (hostname, product, version, build, status), and monitor cpu, disk, network, and database.

install and configure FileZilla Server as an ftp server for reliable backup and restore in a lab vSphere environment, including active directory integration, user creation, and proper access permissions.

Discover how to back up vCenter using FileZilla client to access the ESXi datastore via FTP, with SSH and iSCSI shell enabled.

VMware Tools boosts guest OS performance and VM management with components like tool servers, device driver, user process, and control panel, delivered as OS-specific installers.

Install vm tools in a VMware vSphere guest to enable proper mouse control, video drivers, and reveal DNS and IP information after mounting the vm tools ISO.

Explore the organization of Windows Server 2019 VMs' files in vSphere 7, including the .vmx configuration, bios (.nvm) settings, log files, and the vmdk descriptor with the flat .vmdk.

Learn to power up and shut down a virtual machine with VMware Tools installed, distinguish power off, reset, and suspend from guest OS shutdown, and use cmd shutdown when needed.

Discover how OVA and OVF files package virtual appliances as compressed OVF descriptor files, enabling export, deployment, and distribution of multi-tier virtual machines to vCenter and ESXi.

Learn to deploy and validate OVF templates in vSphere by importing OVF and VMDK files for a Mikrotik router, configuring data stores and networks, and exporting to OVA.

Explore vSphere virtual switches, including standard and distributed types, and learn to add adapters, create and configure switches, add vswitches, and enable management and vMotion traffic on the VMkernel adapter.

Describe standard virtual switches on a single esxi host and distributed virtual switches that span multiple hosts. Distributed switches share a single configuration, enabling consistent network settings and vmotion readiness.

Describe standard virtual switches, layer two switches within a single ESXi host, connecting virtual NICs and VMkernel or management ports to enable VM-to-VM and VM-to-physical traffic.

Discover distributed virtual switches, layer-two software switches that span ESXi hosts, enabling VM to VM, VM kernel, and external networking over a single unified switch with mac address table.

Add and configure multiple network adapters in VMware vSphere to create a new virtual switch, assign a VM kernel, and map adapters to vswitch zero for ESXi environments.

Create and configure a new standard vSwitch and port group on ESXi to separate traffic like iSCSI and management, attach the appropriate VMkernel and VM NIC uplinks, and enable redundancy.

Assign a new vSwitch port group to the Windows Server 2019 VM, edit the network adapter to use the new switch, boot, verify IP, and ping ESXi to confirm connectivity.

Verify and configure the new vswitch properties, including mtu, promiscuous mode for voip traffic, vlan separation, traffic shaping, and etherchannel load balancing for redundancy.

Add a vmkernel adapter for management, vmotion, and iSCSI traffic by selecting an existing or new virtual switch, configuring VMkernel IP, VLAN, and IPv4/IPv6 settings.

Create a vSphere distributed switch and assign uplinks to ESXi hosts. Configure port groups and VMkernel for management and iSCSI networks.

Learn to create, manage, and configure vSphere networking with standard and distributed virtual switches in a production VMware network.

Explore the vSphere storage overview, covering storage types, software defined storage, file and block level storage, iSCSI protocol, and how to configure iSCSI targets, datastores, and mounting NFS shares.

Explore how ESXi with SAN delivers flexibility, efficiency, centralized management, and high availability through vMotion for live migration, fault tolerance, and distributed resource scheduler for load balancing across shared storage.

Compare direct-attached, network-attached, and storage area networks for VMware vSphere 7, highlighting VMDK-backed local disks, RAID configurations, and backup considerations across NAS, SAN, iSCSI, FC, and FCoE.

Unlock the flexibility of software defined storage by abstracting storage from hardware for scalable, programmable data management in a software defined data center. Use APIs for automation and policy-based management.

Compare file level storage and block level storage, their use in NAS and SAN environments, and the protocols NFS, SMB/CIFS, VMFS, iSCSI, and FCoE.

Learn how iSCSI enables block-level storage over TCP/IP, linking initiators to remote targets through software or hardware HBAs, with security options like CHAP and IPsec.

Configure a dedicated vswitch with two physical adapters for iSCSI traffic, assign a vmkernel port, connect to a SAN switch, and segment storage from the LAN with VLANs for security.

Add a new 50 GB virtual disk to the Active Directory server, initialize and create an iSCSI disk as an iSCSI target, and enable remote desktop for management.

Enable the iSCSI target server on Windows Server, create a new iSCSI target with a virtual disk, and configure connectivity and discovery with optional CHAP for vmware esxi.

Explore configuring iSCSI datastores in vSphere by creating two iSCSI targets for a single disk, setting up storage adapters, creating a VMFS datastore, and migrating a Windows Server 2019 VM.

Learn to expand and extend VMware datastore using iSCSI targets, adding new LUNs, and manage capacity from 40 to 50 gigabytes with best practices.

Enable NFS on Windows Server 2019 to create an NFS share for a VMware vSphere data store, configuring permissions and unmap access for ESXi hosts via Server Manager.

Learn to create and add an NFS datastore in vSphere 7, choose not to use Kerberos authentication, specify the NFS datastore name and folder, and review the completion status.

Migrate a virtual machine to an NFS data store using vMotion, selecting NFS 3 when NFS 4.1 blocks access, and mount the data store to all hosts.

Unregister the VM from one ESXi host, register it from shared storage or an iSCSI data store to move between hosts, then power on the Windows Server 2019 VM.

Cover the vSphere update sequence, upgrade paths for vCenter Server and ESXi (manual and bundle files), and how to use a life cycle manager to update production networks.

Master the VMware update sequence, upgrading dependent products before vCenter, then ESXi, and review hardware compatibility and config maximums to plan a scalable vSphere 7 upgrade.

Demonstrates upgrading vCenter Server Appliance from 6.7 to 7 using the vcsa UI installer, including stage one deployment, stage two pre-upgrade checks, and backups for downtime planning.

Upgrade ESXi 6.7 to 7 using an ISO installation, selecting the CD-ROM and boot options, and verify the upgrade in vCenter.

Upgrade ESXi 6.7 to ESXi 7 using an offline bundle by downloading the bundle, uploading it to the ESXi datastore, enabling maintenance mode, and running the cli upgrade.

Explore vSphere lifecycle manager, the update manager successor, enabling image consistency across ESXi hosts with a base image, components, drift remediation, and a desired state for firmware and drivers.

Learn how to use VMware vSphere Lifecycle Manager to upgrade ESXi from 6.7 to the latest version, including creating baselines, syncing updates, and performing remediation in maintenance mode.

Configure the vCenter 7 multihoming option, including network and FQDN changes. Then review the vCenter Server profile and discuss vSphere 7 licensing.

Explore vCenter Server multihoming, enabling up to four vnics on the appliance, with nick zero for management and nick one for high availability, to connect across multiple networks.

configure multihoming on vCenter Server by adding new network adapters, separating backup traffic onto a dedicated network for Veeam backups, then snapshot before changes to enable rollback.

Explore how changing the vCenter appliance fqdn affects the peanut ID, certificate regeneration, vCenter high availability, and Active Directory rejoin, with DNS updates and backup steps.

Export a vCenter server profile as JSON from a reference vCenter and apply it to other instances via a command-line tool to standardize configuration.

Explore vSphere 7 licensing changes, including the 32-core per-socket limit and the shift to a per-CPU licensing model, with notes on multi-socket licenses.

Begin backup and restore of a virtual machine using ovf files, explore cloning, snapshots, and uploads from VMware Workstation to ESXi, and learn Veeam backup and replication.

Learn to manually back up a virtual machine from a vSphere datastore and restore it to another ESXi, using download, upload, and register VM steps.

Use FileZilla client to back up a VM by transferring its files from the iSCSI data store via SSH-enabled ESXi, remove the old VM, then re-register the backup in vCenter.

Export a VM as an OVF template, deploy the OVF to ESXi, configure storage and network, and resolve a MAC address conflict to complete the backup workflow.

Explore snapshots and clones for virtual machines, including when to snapshot before upgrades, how to revert or delete snapshots, and cloning VMs to another ESXi with thin provisioning.

Install and configure Veeam backup and replication to protect vSphere and Hyper-V with agentless, image-based backups, fast replication, and transaction-level restores for Oracle and Microsoft SQL databases.

Install and configure Veeam backup and replication for VMware vSphere, back up a VM, and restore it from a full backup or restore point.

Upload a virtual machine from VMware Workstation to ESXi, adjust hardware compatibility and datastore, and boot with BIOS when EFI is incompatible.

Explore configuring user identity and access in vSphere, including creating users and roles, defining a new role, setting account policy and messages, configuring firewall and services, and enabling lockdown mode.

Configure user identity in vSphere by using ssl single sign-on and identity sources, join vCenter to Active Directory, and manage domain admin access.

Integrate Active Directory as an identity source in vCenter and manage users and groups. Define roles and permissions, including read-only and administrator access, across datacenters and virtual machines.

Define a new vSphere role with selective privileges, such as power on/off a virtual machine, assign it to an Active Directory user, and verify role-based access.

Configure the local account policy by setting a 90-day password lifetime and a three-attempt lockout, then customize the login message with a consent checkbox for single sign on.

Configure firewall and services on an ESXi host, secure SSH access, test connectivity with telnet, and learn startup policy options to control service start up with the host.

Enable lockdown mode on an ESXi host to ensure management traffic and tasks originate from vCenter, using a dedicated exception user and strict or normal modes to protect local access.