6th September 2017

VCP6-DCV Certification Blueprint

I’ve been asked to change direction a little on the certifications that I had been following. Having completed my TOGAF and MCSE in cloud and infrastructure already this year, I was originally working toward a VCP-CMA. However, that has now changed and I’ll first be undertaking the VCP-DCV. So I need to familiarise myself with the DCV blueprint and other resources that will hopefully help me pass.

In addition to studying the blueprint, I’ll be following Greg Shields excellent Pluralsight course “VMware vSphere 6 Data Center Virtualization (VCP6-DCV)“, taking advantage of Pluralsight’s link up with Transcender, following the track on vBrownBag and also attending the compulsory ICM course. My hope is to actually take and pass the VCP6.5-DCV, however in the absence of a published certification blueprint, I’ll have to follow the VCP6-DCV Certification Blueprint and study the what’s new guide!

VCP6-DCV Certification Blueprint

Section 1: Configure and Administer vSphere 6.x Security

+ Objective 1.1: Configure and Administer Role-based Access Control

Knowledge

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 Directory Service
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

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Security Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 1.2: Secure ESXi, vCenter Server, and vSphere Virtual Machines

Knowledge

Harden virtual machine access
Control VMware Tools installation
Control VM data access
Configure virtual machine security policies
Harden a virtual machine against Denial-of-Service attacks
Control VM-VM communications
Control VM device connections
Configure network security policies
Harden ESXi Hosts
Enable/Configure/Disable services in the ESXi firewall
Change default account access
Add an ESXi Host to a directory service
Apply permissions to ESXi Hosts using Host Profiles
Enable Lockdown Mode
Control access to hosts (DCUI/Shell/SSH/MOB)
Harden vCenter Server
Control datastore browser access
Create/Manage vCenter Server Security Certificates
Control MOB access
Change default account access
Restrict administrative privileges
Understand the implications of securing a vSphere environment

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Security Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
Security of the VMware vSphere® Hypervisor
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client Guide
VMware Hardened Virtual Appliance Operations Guide added to Tech Resource Directory
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 1.3: Enable SSO and Active Directory Integration

Knowledge

Describe SSO architecture and components
Differentiate available authentication methods with VMware vCenter
Perform a multi-site SSO installation
Configure/Manage Active Directory Authentication
Configure/Manage Platform Services Controller (PSC)
Configure/Manage VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA)
Enable/Disable Single Sign-On (SSO) Users
Upgrade a single/multi-site SSO installation
Configure SSO policies
Add/Edit/Remove SSO identity sources
Add an ESXi Host to an AD domain

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Security Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
VMware vCenter Server™ 6.0 Deployment Guide
Direct Console User Interface (DCUI)
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 2: Configure and Administer Advanced vSphere 6.x Networking

+Objective 2.1: Configure Advanced Policies/Features and Verify Network Virtualization Implementation

Knowledge

Create/Delete a vSphere Distributed Switch
Add/Remove ESXi Hosts from a vSphere Distributed Switch
Add/Configure/Remove dvPort groups
Add/Remove uplink adapters to dvUplink groups
Configure vSphere Distributed Switch general and dvPort group settings
Create/Configure/Remove virtual adapters
Migrate virtual machines to/from a vSphere Distributed Switch
Configure LACP on vDS given design parameters
Describe vDS Security Polices/Settings
Configure dvPort group blocking policies
Configure load balancing and failover policies
Configure VLAN/PVLAN settings for VMs given communication requirements
Configure traffic shaping policies
Enable TCP Segmentation Offload support for a virtual machine
Enable Jumbo Frames support on appropriate components
Recognize behavior of vDS Auto-Rollback
Configure vDS across multiple vCenter Servers to support [Long Distance vMotion]
Compare and contrast vSphere Distributed Switch (vDS) capabilities

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Networking Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
Leveraging NIC Technology to Improve Network Performance in VMware vSphere
VDS Network Health Check
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+Objective 2.2: Configure Network I/O Control (NIOC)

Knowledge

Define NIOC
Explain NIOC capabilities
Configure NIOC shares/limits based on VM requirements
Explain the behavior of a given NIOC setting
Determine Network I/O Control requirements
Differentiate Network I/O Control capabilities
Enable/Disable Network I/O Control
Monitor Network I/O Control

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Networking Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
Performance Evaluation of Network I/O Control in VMware vSphere 6
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 3: Configure and Administer Advanced vSphere 6.x Storage

+ Objective 3.1: Manage vSphere Storage Virtualization

Knowledge

Discover new storage LUNs
Configure FC/iSCSI/FCoE LUNs as ESXi boot devices
Create an NFS share for use with vSphere
Enable/Configure/Disable vCenter Server storage filters
Configure/Edit hardware/dependent hardware initiators
Enable/Disable software iSCSI initiator
Configure/Edit software iSCSI initiator settings
Configure iSCSI port binding
Enable/Configure/Disable iSCSI CHAP
Determine use cases for fiber channel zoning
Compare and contrast array thin provisioning and virtual disk thin provisioning

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Storage Guide
Best Practices for Running VMware vSphere® on iSCSI
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 3.2: Configure Software-defined Storage

Knowledge

Explain VSAN and VVOL architectural components
Determine the role of storage providers in VSAN
Determine the role of storage providers in VVOLs
Explain VSAN failure domains functionality
Configure/Manage VMware Virtual SAN
Create/Modify VMware Virtual Volumes (VVOLs)
Configure Storage Policies
Enable/Disable Virtual SAN Fault Domains
Create Virtual Volumes given the workload and availability requirements
Collect VSAN Observer output
Create storage policies appropriate for given workloads and availability requirements
Configure VVOLs Protocol Endpoints

Tools

Administering VMware Virtual SAN
vSphere Storage Guide
What’s New: VMware Virtual SAN 6.0
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
Virtual SAN 6.0 Performance: Scalability and Best Practices
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 3.3: Configure vSphere Storage Multi-pathing and Failover

Knowledge

Explain common multi-pathing components
Differentiate APD and PDL states
Given a scenario, compare and contrast Active Optimized vs. Active non-Optimized port group states
Explain features of Pluggable Storage Architecture (PSA)
Understand the effects of a given claim rule on multipathing and failover
Explain the function of claim rule elements:
Vendor
Model
Device ID
SATP
PSP
Change the Path Selection Policy using the UI
Determine required claim rule elements to change the default PSP
Determine the effect of changing PSP on Multipathing and failover
Determine the effects of changing SATP on relevant device behavior
Configure/Manage Storage Load Balancing
Differentiate available Storage Load Balancing options
Differentiate available Storage Multi-pathing Policies
Configure Storage Policies
Locate failover events in the UI

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Storage Guide
Multipathing Configuration for Software iSCSI Using Port Binding
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 3.4: Perform Advanced VMFS and NFS Configurations and Upgrades

Knowledge

Describe VAAI primitives for block devices and NAS
Differentiate VMware file system technologies
Upgrade VMFS3 to VMFS5
Compare functionality of newly created vs. upgraded VMFS5 datastores
Differentiate Physical Mode RDMs and Virtual Mode RDMs
Create a Virtual/Physical Mode RDM
Differentiate NFS 3.x and 4.1 capabilities
Compare and contrast VMFS and NFS datastore properties
Configure Bus Sharing
Configure Multi-writer locking
Connect an NFS 4.1 datastore using Kerberos
Create/Rename/Delete/Unmount VMFS datastores
Mount/Unmount an NFS datastore
Extend/Expand VMFS datastores
Place a VMFS datastore in Maintenance Mode
Select the Preferred Path/Disable a Path to a VMFS datastore
Enable/Disable vStorage API for Array Integration (VAAI)
Given a scenario, determine a proper use case for multiple VMFS/NFS datastores

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Storage Guide
VMware vSphere® Storage APIs – Array Integration (VAAI)
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 3.5: Setup and Configure Storage I/O Control

Knowledge

Describe the benefits of SIOC
Enable and configure SIOC
Configure/Manage SIOC
Monitor SIOC
Differentiate between SIOC and Dynamic Queue Depth Throttling features
Given a scenario, determine a proper use case for SIOC
Compare and contrast the effects of I/O contention in environments with and without SIOC

Tools

Administering VMware Virtual SAN
vSphere Storage Guide
vSphere Resource Management Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 4: Upgrade a vSphere Deployment to 6.x

+ Objective 4.1: Perform ESXi Host and Virtual Machine Upgrades

Knowledge

Configure download source(s)
Setup UMDS to setup download repository
Import ESXi images
Create Baselines and/or Baseline groups
Attach Baselines to vSphere objects
Scan vSphere objects
Stage patches & Extensions
Remediate an object
Upgrade a vSphere Distributed Switch
Upgrade VMware Tools
Upgrade Virtual Machine hardware
Upgrade an ESXi Host using vCenter Update Manager
Stage multiple ESXi Host upgrades
Align appropriate baselines with target inventory objects.

Tools

vSphere Upgrade Guide
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 4.2: Perform vCenter Server Upgrades

Knowledge

Compare the methods of upgrading vCenter Server
Backup vCenter Server database, configuration and certificate datastore
Perform update as prescribed for Appliance or Installable
Upgrade vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA)
Given a scenario, determine the upgrade compatibility of an environment
Determine correct order of steps to upgrade a vSphere implementation

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Upgrade Guide
VMware vCenter Server™ 6.0 Deployment Guide
Command-Line Installation and Upgrade of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0
Command-Line Installation and Upgrade of VMware vCenter Server 6.0 for Windows
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 5: Administer and Manage vSphere 6.x Resources

+ Objective 5.1: Configure Advanced/Multilevel Resource Pools

Knowledge

Determine the effect of the Expandable Reservation parameter on resource allocation
Create a resource pool hierarchical structure
Configure custom resource pool attributes
Determine how resource pools apply to vApps
Describe vFlash architecture
Create/Remove a Resource Pool
Add/Remove virtual machines from a Resource Pool
Create/Delete vFlash Resource Pool
Assign vFlash resources to VMDKs
Given a scenario, determine appropriate shares, reservations and limits for hierarchical Resource Pools

Tools

vSphere Resource Management Guide
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide
What’s New in VMware vSphere® Flash Read Cache®
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 6: Backup and Recover a vSphere Deployment

+ Objective 6.1: Configure and Administer a vSphere Backups/Restore/Replication Solution

Knowledge

Compare and contrast vSphere Replication compression methods
Differentiate VMware Data Protection capabilities
Configure recovery point objective (RPO) for a protected virtual machine
Explain VMware Data Protection sizing guidelines
Create/Delete/Consolidate virtual machine snapshots
Install and Configure VMware Data Protection
Create a backup job with VMware Data Protection
Backup/Restore a virtual machine with VMware Data Protection
Install/Configure/Upgrade vSphere Replication
Configure VMware Certificate Authority (VMCA) integration with vSphere Replication
Configure vSphere Replication for Single/Multiple VMs
Recover a VM using vSphere Replication
Perform a failback operation using vSphere Replication
Deploy a pair of vSphere Replication virtual appliances

Tools

VMware vSphere® Data Protection™ 6.0
vSphere Data Protection Administration Guide
VMware vSphere® Data Protection™ Evaluation Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
VMware vSphere Replication Administration
VDR Data Migration Tool
VDP Configure Utility
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 7: Troubleshoot a vSphere Deployment

+ Objective 7.1: Troubleshoot vCenter Server, ESXi Hosts, and Virtual Machines

Knowledge

Monitor status of the vCenter Server service
Perform basic maintenance of a vCenter Server database
Monitor status of ESXi management agents
Determine ESXi Host stability issues and gather diagnostics information
Monitor ESXi system health
Locate and analyze vCenter Server and ESXi logs
Determine the appropriate Command Line Interface (CLI) command for a given troubleshooting task
Troubleshoot common issues, including:
vCenter Server service
SSO
vCenter Server connectivity
Virtual machine resource contention, configuration and operation
Platform Services Controller (PSC)
Problems with installation
VMware Tools installation
Fault Tolerant network latency

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Troubleshooting Guide
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide
vSphere Server and Host Management Guide
vSphere Monitoring and Performance Guide
vSphere Security Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 7.2: Troubleshoot vSphere Storage and Network Issues

Knowledge

Identify and isolate network and storage resource contention and latency issues
Monitor networking and storage resources using vROps alerts and all badges
Verify network and storage configuration
Verify a given virtual machine is configured with the correct network resources
Monitor/Troubleshoot Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler (SDRS) issues
Recognize the impact of network and storage I/O control configurations
Recognize a connectivity issue caused by a VLAN/PVLAN
Troubleshoot common issues with:
Storage and network
Virtual switch and port group configuration
Physical network adapter configuration
VMFS metadata consistency

Tools

vSphere Networking Guide
vSphere Storage Guide
vSphere Troubleshooting Guide
vSphere Server and Host Management Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 7.3: Troubleshoot vSphere Upgrades

Knowledge

Collect upgrade diagnostic information
Recognize common upgrade issues with vCenter Server and vCenter Server Appliance
Create/Locate/Analyze VMware log bundles
Determine alternative methods to upgrade ESXi Hosts in event of failure
Configure vCenter Server logging options

Tools

vSphere Upgrade Guide
vSphere Troubleshooting Guide
vSphere Update Manager Utility
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client
Update Manager Web Client

+ Objective 7.4: Troubleshoot and Monitor vSphere Performance

Knowledge

Monitor CPU and memory usage (including vRealize OM badges and alerts)
Identify and isolate CPU and memory contention issues
Recognize impact of using CPU/memory limits, reservations and shares
Describe and differentiate critical performance metrics
Describe and differentiate common metrics, including:
Memory
CPU
Network
Storage
Monitor performance through esxtop
Troubleshoot Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) issues
Troubleshoot virtual machine performance with vRealize Operations
Compare and contrast Overview and Advanced Charts

Tools

vSphere Resource Management Guide
vSphere Troubleshooting Guide
vSphere Monitoring and Performance Guide
vCenter Operations Manager Getting Started Guide (vSphere UI)
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 7.5: Troubleshoot HA and DRS Configurations and Fault Tolerance

Knowledge

Troubleshoot issues with:
- DRS workload balancing
- HA failover/redundancy, capacity and network configuration
- HA/DRS cluster configuration
- vMotion/Storage vMotion configuration and/or migration
- Fault Tolerance configuration and failover issues
- Explain the DRS Resource Distribution Graph and Target/Current Host Load Deviation
- Explain vMotion Resource Maps

Tools

vSphere Resource Management Guide
vSphere Monitoring and Performance Guide
vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Troubleshooting Guide
vSphere Availability Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 8: Deploy and Consolidate vSphere Data Center

+ Objective 8.1: Deploy ESXi Hosts Using Autodeploy

Knowledge

Describe the components and architecture of an Auto Deploy environment
Use Auto Deploy Image Builder and PowerCLI scripts
Implement Host Profiles with an Auto Deploy of an ESXi Host
Install and configure Auto Deploy
Understand PowerCLI cmdlets for Auto Deploy
Deploy multiple ESXi Hosts using Auto Deploy
Given a scenario, explain the Auto Deploy deployment model needed to meet a business requirement

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client
Direct Console User Interface (DCUI)

+ Objective 8.2: Customize Host Profile Settings

Knowledge

Edit answer file to customize ESXi Host settings
Modify and apply a storage path selection plugin (PSP) to a device using host profiles
Modify and apply switch configurations across multiple hosts using a Host Profile
Create/Edit/Remove a Host Profile from an ESXi Host
Import/Export a Host Profile
Attach and apply a Host Profile to ESXi Hosts in a cluster
Perform compliance scanning and remediation of an ESXi Hosts and clusters using Host Profiles
Enable or disable Host Profile components

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Host Profiles Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 8.3: Consolidate Physical Workloads using VMware Converter

Knowledge

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 conversion operation
Resize partitions during the conversion process
Given a scenario, determine which virtual disk format to use

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Client

+ Section 9: Configure and Administer vSphere Availability Solutions

+ Objective 9.1: Configure Advanced vSphere HA Features

Knowledge

Modify vSphere HA advanced cluster settings
Configure a network for use with HA heartbeats
Apply an admission control policy for HA
Enable/disable advanced vSphere HA settings
Configure different heartbeat datastores for an HA cluster
Apply virtual machine monitoring for a cluster
Configure Virtual Machine Component Protection (VMCP) settings
Implement vSphere HA on a Virtual SAN cluster
Explain how vSphere HA communicates with Distributed Resource Scheduler and Distributed Power Management

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Availability Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 9.2: Configure Advanced vSphere DRS Features

Knowledge

Configure VM-Host affinity/anti-affinity rules
Configure VM-VM affinity/anti-affinity rules
Add/remove Host DRS Group
Add/remove virtual machine DRS Group
Enable/disable Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) affinity rules
Configure the proper Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) automation level based on a set of business requirements
Explain how DRS affinity rules effect virtual machine placement

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
vSphere Resource Management
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Section 10: Administer and Manage vSphere Virtual Machines

+ Objective 10.1: Configure Advanced vSphere Virtual Machine Settings

Knowledge

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 files (.vmx) settings
Enable/disable advanced virtual machine settings

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client Guide
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 10.2: Create and Manage a Multi-site Content Library

Knowledge

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 On-Demand sync
Configure Content Library to work across sites
Configure Content Library authentication
Set/configure Content Library roles
Add/remove Content Libraries

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client Guide
What’s New in the VMware vSphere® 6.0 Platform
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

+ Objective 10.3: Configure and Maintain a vCloud Air Connection

Knowledge

Create a VPN connection between vCloud Air and an on-premise site
Deploy a virtual machine using vCloud Air
Migrate a virtual machine to vCloud Air
Verify VPN connection configuration to vCloud Air
Configure vCenter Server connection to vCloud Air
Configure replicated objects in vCloud Air Disaster Recovery service
Given a scenario, determine the required settings for virtual machines deployed in vCloud Air

Tools

vSphere Installation and Setup Guide
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client Guide
vSphere Networking Guide
VMware vCloud Air – Disaster Recovery User’s Guide
vSphere Client / vSphere Web Client

So there you have it, the VCP6-DCV Certification Blueprint… Seems like a huge amount of information to cram into the old brain box… Time will tell how successful I am at retaining it all.

Simon