VMware Cloud Foundation: Planning Management Operations [V4.3] Training

This class requires system administration experience with vSphere deployments and completion of the following courses:

• VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage

• VMware NSX-T Data Center: Install, Configure, Manage

• VMware vSAN: Management and Operations

• Describe design implications of VMware Cloud Foundation standard or consolidated architecture
• List requirements for VMware Cloud Foundation deployment
• Describe the VMware Cloud Foundation bring-up process and the VMware Cloud Foundation architecture
• Perform VMware Cloud Foundation bring-up
• Describe physical and virtual networking considerations
• Outline VMware Cloud Foundation storage options
• Use the VMware Imaging Appliance to image ESXi hosts
• Describe VMware Cloud Foundation multi-instance federation
• Use VMware Cloud Foundation™ SDDC Manager™ to perform operational tasks
• Describe user roles in VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware vSphere®
• Manage users and passwords using VMware Cloud Foundation
• Manage certificate rotation for VMware Cloud Foundation components
• Use Active Directory integration to automate certificate generation and rotation
• Describe workload domains
• Manage workload domains in VMware Cloud Foundation
• Manage VMware NSX-T™ for VMware Cloud Foundation
• Describe use cases for Application Virtual Networks (AVNs)
• Meet vSphere with VMware Tanzu™ requirements
• Deploy a vSphere with Tanzu enabled workload domain
• Manage VMware vSAN™ storage in a workload domain
• Create vSAN storage policies
• Describe Cloud Native storage
• Describe the importance of business continuity measures in VMware Cloud Foundation
• Plan appropriate backup and restore workflows for VMware Cloud Foundation components
• Implement stretched clusters in VMware Cloud Foundation workload domains

1 Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics

• Course objectives

2 VMware Cloud Foundation Overview

• Describe the VMware Cloud Foundation solution

• Describe VMware Cloud Foundation architecture

• Identify VMware Cloud Foundation components

• Describe VMware Cloud Foundation topology

• Define VMware Cloud Foundation terminology

3 Day Zero Tasks

• Identify the requirements for deploying VMware Cloud Foundation

• Identify management domain sizing considerations

• Identify workload domain sizing considerations

• Detail design considerations for ESXi in management and VI workload domains

• Detail design considerations for vCenter in management and VI workload domains

• Detail the VMware Cloud Foundation bring-up process

• Identify information required for the Planning and Preparation Workbook

• Identify information required for the Deployment Parameter Workbook

• Describe how VMware Cloud Builder automates the deployment process

• Explain how the Deployment Parameter Workbook is imported into VMware Cloud Builder

• Recognize the configuration validation process performed by VMware Cloud Builder

• Detail the deployment of the management domain

• Recognize the options to image a host

• Identify the key capabilities of VIA

• Recognize how to use VIA for imaging the ESXi Nodes

4 Post Deployment Operations

• Understand VMware Cloud Foundation integration with VMware Single Sign-On

• Configure user access to VMware Cloud Foundation

• Describe the importance of user roles in vSphere

• Configure identity sources in vSphere to use with VMware Cloud Foundation

• Manage passwords in VMware Cloud Foundation

• Explain the importance of using VMware Cloud Foundation to manage passwords for vSphere components

• Detail the best practices for password management for VMware Cloud Foundation

• Retrieve and secure the password list

• Describe the process for rotating passwords not managed by VMware Cloud Foundation

5 VMware Cloud Foundation License Management

• Describe how to add license keys to the VMware Cloud Foundation inventory

• Describe how to view license keys in SDDC Manager

• Describe how to assign license keys

• Describe how to remove license keys

• Describe how to replace expiring licenses

6 VMware Cloud Foundation Networking with NSX-T

• Describe NSX Management plane and Control planes

• Detail design considerations for workload domains with shared NSX Manager instances

• Detail design considerations for workload domains with dedicated NSX Manager instances

• Describe the spine-and-leaf design

• Describe the addressing scheme for the underlay

• Recognize possible variations of the spine-and-leaf design

• Describe the multi-NIC design

• Describe NSX Edge node design and BGP peering with the physical network

• Describe cluster design and rack design

• Explain dynamic routing with BGP

• Explain virtual IP addressing

• Describe logical switching

• Detail NSX Edge functions

• Define application virtual networks

• Describe management domain rack options

• List NSX Edge cluster requirements for vSphere with Tanzu

• Discuss NSX Edge cluster placement considerations

• Describe NSX-T Data Center deployment in VMware Cloud Foundation

• Explain how logical routing works in NSX-T Data Center

• Identify NSX Edge functions

• Describe data plane preparation for NSX-T Data Center Edge nodes in a workload domain

• Recognize Tier-0 and Tier-1 gateway topologies

• Recognize features of NSX distributed firewalls

• Describe the benefits of NSX Federation in VMware Cloud Foundation

• Identify NSX Federation Use Cases

• Explain NSX Federation Components and Architecture

• Discuss NSX Federation configuration basics

7 Managing Workload Domains

• Define workload domains

• Detail design considerations for vSphere networking in management and VI workload domains

• Detail design considerations for storage in management and VI workload domains

• Recognize design choices for a consolidated design or standard design

• List the types of workload domains

• State scale limits for workload domains

• Identify use cases for multiple clusters in a workload domain

• List workload domain prerequisites

• Explain how to create a workload domain

• Describe how to scale a workload domain

• Explain how to delete a workload domain

• Describe host decommissioning

8 vSphere with Tanzu in VMware Could Foundation

• Discuss the vSphere with Tanzu solution

• Define the role of Spherelet

• Describe the supervisor cluster control plane

• Define vSphere with Tanzu namespaces

• Describe the role of NSX-T networking components

• Discuss vSphere with Tanzu networking topology

• Describe VMware Container Networking with Antrea

• Describe control plane VM management networking requirements

• Plan appropriate IP address CIDR ranges for pod, ingress, and egress networking

• Describe prerequisites for vSphere with Tanzu cluster compatibility

• Deploy vSphere with Kubernetes

• Create a vSphere namespace

• Configure limits and permissions for a vSphere namespace

• Enabling Harbor Image Registry

9 VMware Cloud Foundation Storage Management

• Identify vSAN architecture and components

• Recognize storage options for VMware Cloud Foundation

• Recognize the supported storage options for each domain

• Recognize the connectivity options for supplemental storage

• Explain why vSAN is the best option for VMware Cloud Foundation storage

• Recognize vSAN design considerations

• Identify sizing and performance considerations that impact the storage design

• Describe vSAN requirements for the management and workload domains

• Define deduplication and compression

• Discuss how to scale vSAN clusters in VMware Cloud Foundation

• Explain how storage policies work with VMware Cloud Foundation vSAN clusters

• Explain storage policy failure tolerance rules

• Identify a VM storage policy compliance status

• Relate storage policies to Kubernetes storage classes

• Describe persistent volumes

• Monitor Cloud Native Storage in the vSphere Client

10 Availability and Business Continuity

• Identify steps in the SDDC Manager backup and restore process

• Recognize the importance of external service availability

• Describe native vSphere availability options

• Identify steps in the NSX backup and restore process

• Identify stretched cluster use cases

• Identify stretched cluster components

• Recognize stretched cluster requirements in VMware Cloud Foundation

• Prepare and deploy a vSAN stretched cluster using APIs

11 VMware Cloud Foundation Certificate Management

• Describe public key infrastructure (PKI)

• Explain the purpose of certificate signing requests (CSRs)

• List the available CA options in SDDC Manager

• Describe how to view certificates

• Explain how to generate a CSR

• Describe how to replace and install certificates for VMware Cloud Foundation components

• List the available CA options in SDDC Manager

• Explain how to configure the Microsoft CA server

• Describe how to install certificates issued by the Microsoft CA server

• Explain how to add OpenSSL CA in SDDC Manager

• Describe how to install certificates issued by OpenSSL CA

• Explain how to install certificates issued by third-party CAs

12 VMware Cloud Foundation Life Cycle Management

• Describe Life Cycle Management

• List products that you can upgrade using VMware Cloud Foundation Lifecycle Manager

• Describe the available options for online and offline bundle download using VMware Cloud Foundation

Lifecycle Manager

• Describe the role of vSphere Lifecycle Management in VMware Cloud Foundation

• Describe vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baseline-based and Image-based Clusters

• Detail how and when to use cluster images

• Explain how to import a cluster image

• Explain how to extract a cluster image

• Describe the importance of hardware support managers

• Describe the upgrade prerequisites

• Outline the upgrade precheck process

• Describe the order of upgrade for VMware Cloud Foundation components

• Explain how to upgrade VMware Cloud Foundation software and components

13 VMware Imaging Appliance

• Identify the requirements for starting a deployment

• List the options to image a host

• Identify the key capabilities of the VMware Imaging Appliance

• Explain how to use the VMware Imaging Appliance to image hosts

14 VMware Cloud Foundation Multisite Instance Federation

• Recognize the benefits of the federation feature in VMware Cloud Foundation

• Describe the federation feature and multisite management

• Recognize ways a federation helps manage resources and provide visibility in a multi-instance

implementation of VMware Cloud Foundation

• Describe how to create, join, leave, and dismantle a federation

• Recognize the design considerations for a federation

15 VMware Cloud Foundation Troubleshooting

• Explain how to perform checks and create log bundles with the SoS tool

• List VMware Cloud Foundation services

• Identify VMware Cloud Foundation log files

• Describe the use of reference token IDs to troubleshoot failed workflows