Description
In this course we’ll give you an overview of VMware, discussing how to setup VMware vSphere, including ESXi and vCenter. We’ll also talk about how you can start setting up and building your own VM’s!
This course will give the necessary skills to get started and will also act as a valuable reference for your continued VMware learning.
If you are new to IT or have been in Technologies for some time, this course will give you the foundation that you need to either get that IT job, get promoted or improve your existing Tech skillset specifically around the VMware vSphere environment.
In this course we’ll cover –
- What is VMware.
- What is vCenter, ESXi and how to use them
- How to install, setup and configure your own VMware environment
- How to build, configure and manage Virtual Machines (VM’s)
- How to troubleshoot your environment
** This course is aimed at VMware vSphere 7 administration, however, is also relevant to earlier versions of VMware vSphere including v6.7 and v6.5, so videos are spread across versions with all features being available in the newest v7.
Do I need to be an expert?
No, this course is designed for people who may be starting out in technology, those who are already familiar certain infrastructure technology and those who want to learn more about Virtualization technology, specifically VMware.
It’ll provide an essential foundation for anyone wanting to learn and become more proficient in VMware.
Why this course?
This course will be easy to understand and will give you an overview of the necessary IT Server skills that you need to know.
Want to become a VMware, Virtualization or Systems Administrator? Already in IT? It’s essential that you understand the VMware virtualization technology. VMware is used extensively by many companies, small, medium and large, so getting a good understanding of VMware will greatly assist you in your IT career!
Course Length
Close to 7 hours of instructor led video content along with handouts to aid learning.
** In November 2023, Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware.
As of early 2024 you can no longer get a free licensed copy of ESXi. Although there are still free versions floating around the internet, you’ll now need to obtain the ESXi installer software either from an OEM or from the Broadcom Support Portal. You can also find customizable versions for Dell, HPE etc, ie if you search for HPE ESXi download.
Course Content
1 Intro | What is VMware
- What is VMware, ESXi, vCenter
02 VMware ESXi Install and Setup
- Downloading VMware ESXi
- Installing and Configuring VMware ESXi
- Post Build – ESXi Overview
- Configuring an VMware ESXi Host – Best Practices
- Assigning a License to an ESXi Host
- Adding an ISO to a Datastore
- Configure a Virtual Standard Switch (vSwitch basics)
- Setting the NTP Time against an ESXi Host
- Maintenance Mode on ESXi Host
03 Building and Setting up a VM
- Intro to Building a VM
- How to Build a VM
- VM Changes, Updates, Amendments
- Building a Windows Server VM (Optional)
- Building a Linux Ubuntu Server VM (Optional)
04 VMware Storage
- Storage and Datastores
- Disk Types – Thin vs Thick
- Setting up a Synology NAS Datastore (Optional)
05 VMware vCenter
- Downloading VMware vCenter
- Setting up VMware vCenter
- vCenter GUI Guide
- vCenter Overview + Adding ESXi Host
- Moving ESXi host between clusters in vCentre
- Intro to vMotion – What is it?
- Setup of Migration + vMotion + EVC
- Intro to DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler)
- DRS and Affinity Rules – Setup and Use
- High Availability (HA) + Fault Tolerance (FT)
- Permissions, Security and Active Directory
- Reviewing VMware Logs, Alerts and Performance
- Virtual vSwitches + VMkernel Ports
07 Further Configurations and Tips
- VMware Hardware Version Compatibility
- VM Snapshots
- Creating a VM template
- How many VM’s per Host??
- Auto Start + Auto Shutdown a VM
- Cloning / Copying a VM
- Adding CPU & RAM to an running VM, without shutdown
08 Troubleshooting VMware
- Enabling SSH from vSphere and logging into the CLI
- How to monitor Storage performance on Host
- How to identify which Physical NIC a VM is using
- How to Remove an Invalid (Broken) VM
- Enabling SSH from the backend ESXi console (not vSphere)
09 Final Thoughts
- Interview Q&A
- Let’s Wrap UpCourse Outline & Videos
