To get the most out of this book

This book assumes a basic level of VMware vSphere and virtualization knowledge, which you will need in order to understand all the concepts.

This book requires the following minimum software components: VMware vSphere 6.7, and VMware vCenter Server 6.7. There is also other optional software.

The best way to practice without the need for software licenses or hardware components is to try VMware HOLs (https://labs.hol.vmware.com/), which cover different products and technologies. The first ones that you should use, if you are new to the features of vSphere 6.7, are listed here:

• HOL-1911-01-SDC – What's New in VMware vSphere 6.7
• HOL-1911-91-SDC – vSphere 6.7 Lightning Lab
• HOL-1904-02-CHG – vSphere 6.7 – Challenge Lab

If you would prefer your own lab, there are several suggestions for what type of hardware to use, whether a single big server with nested ESXi hypervisors, or a cloud service such as Ravello (which can also host nested ESXi hosts). There are also suggestions on how to deploy all software components. One interesting way of doing so is using AutoLab (http://www.labguides.com/autolab/), or you can see the blogs of Alan Renouf and William Lam, where you can find some powerful scripts for building an entire vSphere 6.5 environment (also with vSAN and NSX!).

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9781789613377_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "At the runweasel command line, type ks=usb:/ks.cfg."

A block of code is set as follows:

vmaccepteula
rootpw mypassword
install --firstdisk –overwritevmfs
keyboard English
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=vmnic0
reboot

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

esxcli system syslog config set –loghost tcp://SYSLOG_IP:514
esxcli system syslog reload

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

cd /usr/lib/vmware-sso/
openssl x509 -inform PEM -in xyzCompanySmartCardSigningCA.cer >> /usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/conf/clienttrustCA.pem

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Under Settings, switch to General and click the Edit... button."

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.