Mastering VMware vSphere 6.7

Nick Marshall has worked in the IT industry for nearly 20 years. As a senior integration architect at VMware, he now helps develop products such as VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware Validated Designs and vSphere itself. Nick blogs at nickmarshall.com.au and you can follow him on Twitter at @nickmarshall9.

• ContentsForeword xxiiiIntroduction xxvChapter 1 • Introducing VMware vSphere 6.7 1Exploring VMware vSphere 6.7 1Examining the Products in the vSphere Suite 3Examining the Features in VMware vSphere 8Licensing VMware vSphere 17Why Choose vSphere? 20The Bottom Line 22Chapter 2 • Planning and Installing VMware ESXi 23VMware ESXi Architecture 23Understanding the ESXi Hypervisor 23Examining the ESXi Components 24Planning a VMware vSphere Deployment 25Choosing a Server Platform 26Determining a Storage Architecture 28Integrating with the Network Infrastructure 29Deploying VMware ESXi 30Installing VMware ESXi Interactively 31Performing an Unattended Installation of VMware ESXi 35Deploying VMware ESXi with vSphere Auto Deploy 38Performing Post-installation Configuration 40Reconfiguring the Management Network 40Using the vSphere Host Client 42Configuring Time Synchronization 43Configuring Name Resolution 45The Bottom Line 46Chapter 3 • Installing and Configuring vCenter Server .47Introducing vCenter Server 47Centralizing User Authentication Using vCenter Single Sign-On 49Understanding the Platform Services Controller 52Using the vSphere Web Client for Administration 53Providing an Extensible Framework 54Choosing the Version of vCenter Server 55Planning and Designing a vCenter Server Deployment 56Sizing Hardware for vCenter Server 56Planning for vCenter Server Availability 58Running vCenter Server and Its Components as VMs 60Installing vCenter Server and Its Components 63Installing vCenter Server in an Enhanced Linked Mode Group 74Exploring vCenter Server 77The vSphere Web Client Home Screen 78Using the Navigator 80Creating and Managing a vCenter Server Inventory 80Understanding Inventory Views and Objects 80Creating and Adding Inventory Objects 83Exploring vCenter Server’s Management Features 86Understanding Basic Host Management 86Examining Basic Host Configuration 89Using Scheduled Tasks 93Using the Events and Events Consoles in vCenter Server 95Working with Host Profiles 95Tags and Custom Attributes 99Managing vCenter Server Settings 102General vCenter Server Settings 102Licensing 105Message of the Day 106Advanced Settings 106Auto Deploy 106vCenter HA A 106Key Management Servers 106Storage Providers 106vSphere Web Client Administration 106Roles 107Licensing 107vCenter Solutions Manager 107System Configuration 107VMware Appliance Management Administration 109Summary 110Monitor 111Access 113Networking 113Time 113Services 113Update 114Administration 114Syslog 114Backup 115The Bottom Line 115Chapter 4 • vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools .117vSphere Update Manager 117vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Server Appliance 120Installing the Update Manager Download Service (Optional) 121The vSphere Update Manager Plug-in 122Reconfiguring the VUM or UMDS Installation with the Update Manager Utility 123Upgrading VUM from a Previous Version 124Configuring vSphere Update Manager 124Creating Baselines 130Routine Updates 134Attaching and Detaching Baselines or Baseline Groups 135Performing a Scan 137Staging Patches 141Remediating Hosts 142Upgrading VMware Tools 145Upgrading Host Extensions 148Upgrading Hosts with vSphere Update Manager 148Importing an ESXi Image and Creating the Host Upgrade Baseline 148Upgrading a Host 151Upgrading VM Hardware 152Performing an Orchestrated Upgrade 154Investigating Alternative Update Options 155Using vSphere Update Manager PowerCLI 155Upgrading and Patching without vSphere Update Manager 156vSphere Auto Deploy 157Deploying Hosts with Auto Deploy 157vCenter Support Tools 172ESXi Dump Collector 172Other vCenter Support Tools 175The Bottom Line 176Chapter 5 • Creating and Configuring a vSphere Network .179Putting Together a vSphere Network 179Working with vSphere Standard Switches 182Comparing Virtual Switches and Physical Switches 183Understanding Ports and Port Groups 184Understanding Uplinks 186Configuring the Management Network 189Configuring VMkernel Networking 192Enabling Enhanced Multicast Functions 197Configuring TCP/IP Stacks 198Configuring Virtual Machine Networking 200Configuring VLANs 202Configuring NIC Teaming 207Using and Configuring Traffic Shaping 219Bringing It All Together 220Working with vSphere Distributed Switches 224Creating a vSphere Distributed Switch 224Removing an ESXi Host from a Distributed Switch 229Removing a Distributed Switch 230Managing Distributed Switches 231Working with Distributed Port Groups 234Managing VMkernel Adapters 240Using NetFlow on vSphere Distributed Switches 245Enabling Switch Discovery Protocols 247Enabling Enhanced Multicast Functions 248Setting Up Private VLANs 249Configuring LACP 252Configuring Virtual Switch Security 256Understanding and Using Promiscuous Mode 257Allowing MAC Address Changes and Forged Transmits 258The Bottom Line 262Chapter 6 • Creating and Configuring Storage Devices .265Reviewing the Importance of Storage Design 265Examining Shared Storage Fundamentals 267Comparing Local Storage with Shared Storage 269Defining Common Storage Array Architectures 271Explaining RAID 273Understanding vSAN 278Understanding Midrange and External Enterprise Storage Array Design 282Choosing a Storage Protocol 284Making Basic Storage Choices 299Implementing vSphere Storage Fundamentals 301Reviewing Core vSphere Storage Concepts 302Understanding Virtual Volumes 318SCs vs LUNs 320Storage Policies 320Virtual Volumes 321Working with VMFS Datastores 322Working with Raw Device Mappings 337Working with NFS Datastores 339Working with vSAN 347Working with Virtual Machine–Level Storage Configuration 349Leveraging SAN and NAS Best Practices 361The Bottom Line 366Chapter 7 • Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity .369Understanding the Layers of High Availability 369Clustering VMs 371Introducing Network Load Balancing Clustering 371Introducing Windows Server Failover Clustering 372Implementing vSphere High Availability 384Understanding vSphere High Availability Clusters 384Understanding vSphere High Availability’s Core Components 385Enabling vSphere HA 389Configuring vSphere High Availability 393Configuring vSphere HA Groups, Rules, Overrides, andOrchestrated VM Restart 409Managing vSphere High Availability 413Introducing vSphere SMP Fault Tolerance 415Using vSphere SMP Fault Tolerance with vSphere High Availability 421Examining vSphere Fault Tolerance Use Cases 421Planning for Business Continuity 422Providing Data Protection 422Recovering from Disasters 426Using vSphere Replication 427The Bottom Line 432Chapter 8 • Securing VMware vSphere .433Overview of vSphere Security 433Securing ESXi Hosts 434Working with ESXi Authentication 434Controlling Access to ESXi Hosts 439Keeping ESXi Hosts Patched 447Managing ESXi Host Permissions 447Configuring ESXi Host Logging 455Securing the ESXi Boot Process 456Reviewing Other ESXi Security Recommendations 459Securing vCenter Server 459Managing vSphere Certificates 460Working with Certificate Stores 460Getting Started with Certificate Management 463Authenticating Users with Single Sign-On 465Understanding the vpxuser Account 469Managing vCenter Server Permissions 470Configuring vCenter Server Appliance Logging 482Securing Virtual Machines 483Configuring a Key Management Server for VM and VSAN Encryption 483Virtual Trusted Platform Module 2.0 490Configuring Network Security Policies 491Keeping VMs Patched 492The Bottom Line 492Chapter 9 • Creating and Managing Virtual Machines .495Understanding Virtual Machines 495Examining Virtual Machines from the Inside 495Examining Virtual Machines from the Outside 498Creating a Virtual Machine 503Choosing Values for Your New Virtual Machine 513Sizing Virtual Machines 514Naming Virtual Machines 516Sizing Virtual Machine Hard Disks 516Virtual Machine Graphics 518Installing a Guest Operating System 518Working with Installation Media 519Using the Installation Media 521Working in the Virtual Machine Console 523Installing VMware Tools 524Installing VMware Tools in Windows 525Installing VMware Tools in Linux 529Managing Virtual Machines 532Adding or Registering Existing VMs 532Changing VM Power States 534Removing VMs 535Deleting VMs 535Modifying Virtual Machines 536Changing Virtual Machine Hardware 536Using Virtual Machine Snapshots 541The Bottom Line 546Chapter 10 • Using Templates and vApps .549Cloning VMs 549Creating a Customization Specification 550Cloning a Virtual Machine 555Introducing vSphere Instant Cloning 558Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines 561Cloning a Virtual Machine to a Template 563Deploying a Virtual Machine from a Template 564Using OVF Templates 566Deploying a VM from an OVF Template 567Exporting a VM as an OVF Template 569Examining OVF Templates 571Using Content Libraries 573Content Library Data and Storage 573Content Library Synchronization 574Creating and Publishing a Content Library 574Subscribing to a Content Library 575Operating Content Libraries 577Working with vApps 579Creating a vApp 580Editing a vApp 581Changing a vApp’s Power State 586Cloning a vApp 586Importing Machines from Other Environments 587The Bottom Line 588Chapter 11 • Managing Resource Allocation .591Reviewing Virtual Machine Resource Allocation 591Working with Virtual Machine Memory 594Understanding ESXi Advanced Memory Technologies 595Controlling Memory Allocation 599Managing Virtual Machine CPU Utilization 608Default CPU Allocation 609Setting CPU Affinity 610Using CPU Reservations 611Using CPU Limits 612Using CPU Shares 613Summarizing How Reservations, Limits, and Shares Work with CPUs 615Using Resource Pools 615Configuring Resource Pools 616Understanding Resource Allocation with Resource Pools 619Regulating Network I/O Utilization 625Controlling Storage I/O Utilization 630Enabling Storage I/O Control 632Configuring Storage Resource Settings for a Virtual Machine 635Using Flash Storage 639The Bottom Line 643Chapter 12 • Balancing Resource Utilization .645Comparing Utilization with Allocation 645Exploring vMotion 646Examining vMotion Requirements 650Performing a vMotion Migration within a Cluster 653Ensuring vMotion Compatibility 656Using Per-Virtual-Machine CPU Masking 656Using Enhanced vMotion Compatibility 658Using Storage vMotion 662Combining vMotion with Storage vMotion 665Cross-vCenter vMotion 668Examining Cross-vCenter vMotion Requirements 669Performing a Cross-vCenter Motion 670Exploring vSphere Distributed Resource Scheduler 671Understanding Manual Automation Behavior 672Reviewing Partially Automated Behavior 672Examining Fully Automated Behavior 673Working with Distributed Resource Scheduler Rules 674Working with Storage DRS 682Creating and Working with Datastore Clusters 683Configuring Storage DRS 686The Bottom Line 694Chapter 13 • Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance .697Overview of Performance Monitoring 697Using Alarms 698Understanding Alarm Scopes 700Creating Alarms 700Managing Alarms 706Working with Performance Charts 708Overview Layout 708Advanced Layout 710Working with esxtop 719Monitoring CPU Usage 721Monitoring Memory Usage 725Monitoring Network Usage 727Monitoring Disk Usage 729The Bottom Line 732Chapter 14 • Automating VMware vSphere 735Why Use Automation? 735vSphere Automation Options 736Automating with PowerCLI 737PowerShell and PowerCLI 737What’s New in PowerCLI 10 741Installing and Configuring PowerCLI on Windows 741Installing and Configuring PowerCLI on macOS 745Installing and Configuring PowerCLI on Linux 747Additional PowerCLI Capabilities 749Getting Started with PowerCLI 750Building PowerCLI Scripts 755PowerCLI Advanced Capabilities 767Additional Resources 771The Bottom Line 772Appendix A • The Bottom Line .775Chapter 1: Introducing VMware vSphere 6.7 775Chapter 2: Planning and Installing VMware ESXi 776Chapter 3: Installing and Configuring vCenter Server 777Chapter 4: vSphere Update Manager and the vCenter Support Tools 780Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring a vSphere Network 781Chapter 6: Creating and Configuring Storage Devices 783Chapter 7: Ensuring High Availability and Business Continuity 787Chapter 8: Securing VMware vSphere 788Chapter 9: Creating and Managing Virtual Machines 790Chapter 10: Using Templates and vApps 792Chapter 11: Managing Resource Allocation 794Chapter 12: Balancing Resource Utilization 796Chapter 13: Monitoring VMware vSphere Performance 798Chapter 14: Automating VMware vSphere 799Index 801