VMware VCP 4.1 Study Guide & Lab

Discussion in 'VMware Certifications' started by craigie, Sep 16, 2011.

  1. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    Lab Setup Hardware

    1 x HP ML115
    2 x 500GB 7.2K SATA Drives in RAID1
    8GB RAM
    1 x NIC

    Lab Setup Software

    1 x Windows Server 2003 64 Bit Standard (Operating System for HP ML115)
    1 x Windows Server 2003 32 Bit Standard (Used as a Virtual Machine for testing)
    1 x Windows XP (Used as a Virtual Machine for testing)
    1 x OpenFiler 2.99 (Storage Area Network)
    1 x VMware Workstation 7.1
    1 x VMware ESXi 4.1
    1 x VMware v Centre Server 4.1

    To download the software we required for the lab, you will need to register with VMware this can be done by following any VMware link below as it will ask you to register first.

    OpenFiler 2.99 Download Link

    VMware Workstatation 7.1 Download Link

    VMware ESXi 4.1 Download Link

    VMware vCentre Server 4.1 Download Link
     
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
    Bluerinse and chinino like this.
  2. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    Physical Machine Operating System

    We will install Windows Server 2003 64 Bit as the base Operating System on our HP ML115 as this has a fairly small memory footprint.

    On the install I give the Operating System a 50GB C: Drive partition, and the computer name is VM01

    Once Windows Server 2003 64 Bit has installed, we then configure the machine with the following IP Address

    View attachment 2407

    We then create three more partitions as follows:

    OFSAN (O) 300GB, this will be used for our SAN
    VM (V) 50GB, this will be used for our VMware Workstation VM’s
    DATA (Z) 50GB, this will be used for software ISO’s

    View attachment 2408

    Inside of the OFSAN partition, we need to create three folders called:

    vDisk01
    vDisk02
    vDisk03

    These will form the LUN’s that we present to the VM’s

    Inside of the VM partition, we need to create three folders called:

    ESXi01
    ESXi02
    OFSAN01

    These will hold the VMware Workstation information that will form our VCP Lab.

    Inside of the DATA partition we need to save our ISO’s for the following:

    1 x Windows Server 2003 32 Bit Standard
    1 x Windows XP
    1 x OpenFiler 2.99
    1 x VMware ESXi 4.1
    1 x VMware v Centre Server 4.1

    Next we need to edit the HOST File on VM01 by going to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and opening the hosts file with notepad. Enter the following lines:

    192.168.1.10 ofsan01
    10.0.0.11 esxi01
    10.0.0.12 esxi02

    View attachment 2414
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2011
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
  3. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    VMware Workstation Installation

    We are now going to install VMware Workstation 7.1. This only needs to be installed using the defaults so just click next with the onscreen instructions.

    Once VMware Workstation has been installed go to Virtual Network Editor and configure this as follows:

    VMnet1 Host Only Subnet 192.168.1.0/24 (this will be our Management Network)
    VMnet9 Host Only Subnet 192.168.2.0/24 (this will be our vMotion Network)

    Remove DHCP from VMnet1
    Remove VMnet8 and turn the DHCP off

    Once configured it should look like this:

    View attachment 2415

    Next go into your Network Connections on VM01 and rename them to:

    Local Area Connection > LAN
    VMnet1 > Management Network
    VMnet9 > vMotion Network

    View attachment 2411

    We now need to change the IP address settings on the Management Network to:

    View attachment 2412

    Next we need to change our vMotion IP address settings to:

    View attachment 2413
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2011
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
  4. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    OpenFiler SAN Setup

    We need to open VMware Workstation and we are going to configure a virtual SAN to be the shared storage for our ESXi hosts to use.

    Go into VMware Workstation and create a New Virtual Machine
    Select Custom Advanced
    Select Hardware Compatibility Workstation 6.5-7.x
    Install from ISO and browse to your OpenFiler ISO
    Guest Operating System choose Other and Other 64-bit
    Virtual Machine Name type OFSAN01 Location V:\OFSAN01
    Number Of Processors choose 1, Number Of Cores Per Processor choose 1
    Memory For This Virtual Machine choose 256MB
    Network Type choose Use Host Only Networking
    I/O Controllers Type choose LSI Logic
    Disk choose Create New Virtual Disk
    Virtual Disk Type choose IDE
    Maximum Disk Size choose 10GB
    Disk File choose Next
    Deselect Power On This Virtual Machine
    Click Finish

    Next we need to Edit Virtual Machine Settings then Add Hardware
    Select Network Adapter
    Select Custom and choose VMnet1

    It should now look like this

    View attachment 2416

    Now Power on OFSAN01 and choose Enter to install in ‘graphical mode’
    Click Next
    Click United Kingdom
    Click Yes to the warning
    Click Next
    Click Yes to both warnings

    On the network devices screen change this to the following for eth0:

    View attachment 2417

    For eth1, the settings should be:

    View attachment 2418

    Click next and select Europe/London UK time
    Enter a root password
    Click Next
    Click Next
    Click Reboot

    Once installed we should be greeted with a screen like this:

    View attachment 2419

    We now need to add three Hard Drives to add OpenFiler we do this by editing OFSAN01 virtual machines settings.

    Edit OFSAN01 Settings
    Click Add
    Select Hard Disk
    Create New Virtual Disk
    Next
    100GB in size

    O:\Disk01\vDisk01.vmdk

    Repeat this twice more for vDisk02 and vDisk03


    Browse to https://10.0.0.10:446 and login with the following credentials:

    openfiler
    password

    Once inside OpenFiler, click on ‘System’ and then add in Network Access Configuration the following:

    LAN 10.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 Share
    iSCSI 192.168.1.0 255.255.255.0 Share

    Your screen should resemble the following:

    View attachment 2420

    We have configured access to our SAN from the LAN 10.0.0.0/24 and also to allow iSCSI paths to connect to it from 192.168.1.0/24.

    Next we need to add some drives so that OpenFiler can convert them into a usable disk format. We do this by going onto Volumes and then selecting Block Devices.

    The first disk you will see is labelled /dev/sda this is the disk that OpenFiler is installed on, leave this alone!

    Click on /dev/sdb which is on the ‘Edit Disk’ column, scroll down and click create. Repeat this for /dev/sdc and /dev/sdc.

    View attachment 2421

    The next step is to create our Disk Groups, to do this go to Volume Groups and select /dev/sdb and type in vdisk01 then Add Volume Group, repeat this for vdisk02 and vdisk03.

    View attachment 2422

    We now need to add a LUN to our Disk Groups, these are what we will present to our ESXi hosts as there iSCSI targets.

    Go into Add Volumes and select vdisk01 and create volumes as follows:

    View attachment 2423

    Next onto Add Volumes and select vdisk02 and create volumes as follows:

    View attachment 2424

    We will leave vDisk03 alone as you can use this to create some LUNs in your own lab.

    The next step is to turn on the iSCSI service on OpenFiler, to do this go to Services and then turn on iSCSI target so it resembles this.

    View attachment 2425

    Now we need to present the LUN’s as iSCSI targets, to do this we need to go to Volumes then iSCSI Targets.

    In Target IQN, change where is states openfiler to vmos as this will make it easier to map the LUN’s in vCentre, see below.

    View attachment 2426

    Click Add then go to LUN Mapping and Map VMOS to LUN vmos by clicking on Map on the right hand side

    View attachment 2427

    Next go onto Network ACL and we will Deny LAN traffic and allow iSCSI traffic

    View attachment 2428

    Repeat this for VMDATA, VMISO and VMTEMPLATE
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2011
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
  5. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    ESXi Installation

    Launch VMware Workstation and choose New Virtual Machine
    Click Next on Typical
    Choose Installer Disk Image File and locate your ESXi 4.1 ISO
    Click Next
    Virtual Machine Name is ESXi01
    Location V:\ESXi01
    Hard Disk Size is 10GB leave the rest as defaults
    Next choose Customize Hardware
    Change Memory to 4096MB
    Change Network Adapter to Bridged
    Then add a Network Adapter Custom: Specified Virtual Network VMnet1 (Host Only)
    Next add another Network Adapter Custom: Specified Virtual Network VMnet1 (Host Only)
    Finally add another Network Adapter Custom: Specified Virtual Network VMnet9 (Host Only)

    Then click finish, it should look like this

    View attachment 2429

    A quick rundown of the network adapters:

    Bridged will connect ESXi01 to the LAN network 10.0.0.0/24
    The first VMnet1 will connect ESXi01 to the iSCSI network 192.168.1.0/24
    The second VMnet1 will connect ESXi01 to the iSCSI network 192.168.1.0/24, this is for redundancy
    VMnet9 will connect ESXi01 to ESXi02 for vMotion traffic

    Next start up ESXi01 and then run through the install, it’s just next, next etc.

    After you have finished the installation you will be greeted with the following screen:

    View attachment 2430

    Press F2 to Customize System
    Press Enter and Enter as you currently do not have a password
    Press Return on Configure Password and enter a password, then press Enter
    Go down to Configure Management Network and press Enter
    Choose IP Configuration and ensure it replicates this

    View attachment 2431

    Next go down to DNS Configurations and enter the following:

    View attachment 2432

    Enter to OK this and then ESC to exit
    Choose yes to Restart Network Management Card
    Then ESC until you are at the login screen

    Repeat the installation for esxi02, making sure the IP Address is 10.0.0.12
     
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
  6. derkit

    derkit Gigabyte Poster

    1,480
    58
    112
    Craigie - you never cease to amaze me with the amount of time you put in to showing everyone else.
    This is a bit above my head at the mo, but knowing its there for future is spot on.

    Rep sent mate!
     
    Certifications: MBCS, BSc(Hons), Cert(Maths), A+, Net+, MCDST, ITIL-F v3, MCSA
    WIP: 70-293
  7. csx

    csx Megabyte Poster

    511
    6
    81
    Craigie - Legend, will follow your guides to learn some more! Thanks :)
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, 70-271 & 70-272, CCENT, VCP5-DCV and CCNA
    WIP: Citrix
  8. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    Thanks chaps, we do have some people on here who know way more than me about VMware, however we seem to be a bit light on how to install and configure your home lab in a cost effective manor.
     
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
  9. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    vSphere Client Installation

    There are two main ways to interact with your ESXi clients either using SSH or using the vSphere Client. To use SSH you would need to log into the ESXi01 and ESXi02 via the VMware Workstation console and then go into Troubleshooting Options and Enable Remote Tech Support (SSH)

    View attachment 2433

    The preferred method for managing ESXi is using vSphere Client, this can be installed either by going to https://esxi01 or https://10.0.0.11 however be warned you are not downloading this from the ESXi01 but are re directed to a download from VMwares website. My preferred method is to install it from the vCentre installation which we will go through now:

    Extract your VMware vCentre ISO
    Double Click on Auto Run
    Click on vSphere Client
    Then follow the prompts clicking Next all the way

    Once it is installed we can launch VMware vSphere Client and login into ESXi01. To do this type in ESXi01 in the IP Address/Name, then root as the username and then your password. Click Login and ignore the SSL Certificate issue.

    View attachment 2434

    Once logged in, Click OK to ignore the 60 Day Evaluation, this is now where the fun starts!
     
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
    deathorse likes this.
  10. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

    4,607
    83
    211
    Good guides Craigie, I did the same thing you're doing when I first started, hands on with VMware is one of the best things you could do when preparing for the exam.
     
    Certifications: A+ | CCA | CCAA | Network+ | MCDST | MCSA | MCP (270, 271, 272, 290, 291) | MCTS (70-662, 70-663) | MCITP:EMA | VCA-DCV/Cloud/WM | VTSP | VCP5-DT | VCP5-DCV
    WIP: VCAP5-DCA/DCD | EMCCA
  11. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    Managing ESXi With vSphere

    Now that we have logged into the vSphere Client we need to configure two main areas:

    1. Networking
    2. Storage

    Networking is perhaps the most fundamental part of VMware as this is what allows the vKernel to establish communication with the Virtual Machines it hosts, the iSCSI storage it is attached to and to perform tasks such as vMotion.

    In this Lab we are going to configure the networking as follows:

    1 x NIC for LAN which is bridged to our physical network
    2 x NIC for iSCSI
    1 x NIC for vMotion

    Click ESXi01 at the top left and then onto Configuration
    On the left had side choose Networking

    You will see Virtual Switch: vSwitch0 this is the default switch that VMware creates on installation of ESXi.

    Click on Properties, then click onto Virtual Machine Port Group, and change the name to LAN. We do this so we can easily identify what the Port Group is being used for.

    Underneath this is the VMKernel Port, this is our access to ESXi01 and ESXi02 and as you can see the IP Address is 10.0.0.11 I change this to Management Network, so again it is easily identifiable. Once configured it should look like this.

    View attachment 2454

    Next we are going to add the networking for our iSCSI traffic. At the top right hand side click Add Networking and choose VMKernel and Click Next
    Select Create A Virtual Switch
    The name is iSCSI
    Choose vmnic1
    Choose vmnic2
    Click Next
    Enter 192.168.1.21 for the IP Address
    Click Finish

    It should resemble this:

    View attachment 2455

    Now we are going to add in another Virtual Switch for the vMotion traffic.

    Add Networking and choose VMKernel and Click Next
    Select Create A Virtual Switch
    The name is vMotion
    VLAN ID is 12
    Choose vmnic3
    Click Next
    Enter 192.168.2.21 for the IP Address
    Click Finish

    View attachment 2456

    The way I perceive Virtual Switch’s is the left hand side are devices such as PC’s plugging into the switch (rectangle grey box) and then he physical adapter is the default gateway (router).

    We now need to replicate these changes onto ESXi02, the only difference are the IP Address’s which should be:

    iSCSI 192.168.1.22
    vMotion 192.168.2.22

    One of the most important things is that you HAVE to type in the names of your virtual switches in exactly the same way e.g. vMotion and vMotion.

    View attachment 2457

    That our networking sorted, the next stage is to configure storage. On the configuration tab you will see Storage, click this. You will see one Datastore, these are the Hard Drives that ESXi is installed on. Again for reference, I recommend you rename these to ESXi01HD and ESXi02HD so that you know they are the local disks.

    This is achieved by right clicking and selecting rename.

    We need to tell VMware that it is going to be using iSCSI storage, to do this click on Storage Adapters and then locate the one which is called iSCSI Software Adapter on mine is vmbha33

    View attachment 2458

    Click on Properties (right hand side in the middle) and then Configure which is located on the General Tab.
    Select Enabled.
    Choose the Dynamic Discovery Tab
    Add
    Enter 192.168.1.10 (this is our OpenFiler iSCSI SAN IP Address)
    Click OK, you will be prompted to Rescan your Host Bus Adapter, Click OK

    If we have been successful we will see our iSCSI LUN’s appear

    View attachment 2459

    Go back to Storage
    Click Add Storage (top right)
    Choose Disk LUN
    Expand the Columns until you see VMISO in the iSCSI FQN
    Select this and Click Next
    Enter VMOS for the name
    Click Next to format
    Click Finish

    Repeat this process for VMDATA, VMISO and VMTEMPLATE

    Once done it should look like this

    View attachment 2460

    Now for ESXi02 you will only need to turn on the iSCSI Adapter and enter the OpenFiler IP Address. The LUN’s will appear automatically after the Host Bus Adapter scan.

    So that’s out Networking and Storage sorted, next part will be adding the ESXi01 nodes into vCentre.
     
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
  12. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

    3,020
    174
    155
    vCentre Installation & Configuration

    vCentre gives us the ability to combine single ESXi hosts and form clusters enabling us to perform all the cool things such as vMotion, High Availability, Fault Tolerance and Distributed Resource Scheduler.

    To install vCentre go into your V: Drive and locate your vCentre installation and follow the on screen prompts.

    vCentre uses Active Directory authentication and as part of the installation it installs ADAM (Active Directory Application Mode) which uses the local administrators username and password (if you kept the defaults).

    So when we launch vCentre on VM01 we can just tick the box to use Windows Credentials.

    Now that we are in vCentre the first thing we are going to do is create a Datacentre, this is the top level in VMware.

    In the top left hand corner you will see your Physical Computers name, in my case it’s VM01, right click this and choose New Datacentre and then give it a name.

    Next we are going to add a Cluster to our Datacentre, right click the Datacentre and choose New Cluster and give it a name.

    Last of all we add our host to the Cluster, so we right click the Cluster and choose Add Host, enter t Host DNS entry (I don’t recommend IP as vMotion relies on DNS). The username and password to access your ESXi Host and click next

    View attachment 2487


    Accept the defaults on the Resource Pool, click next click Finish.

    Repeat the process to add in Host esxi02.

    We are now going to turn on VMware HA and VMware DRS. To do this right click your Cluster Name and choose Edit Settings.

    Then on Cluster Features select ‘Turn On VMware HA’ and ‘Turn On VMware DRS’. Click OK

    View attachment 2488
     
    Certifications: CCA | CCENT | CCNA | CCNA:S | HP APC | HP ASE | ITILv3 | MCP | MCDST | MCITP: EA | MCTS:Vista | MCTS:Exch '07 | MCSA 2003 | MCSA:M 2003 | MCSA 2008 | MCSE | VCP5-DT | VCP4-DCV | VCP5-DCV | VCAP5-DCA | VCAP5-DCD | VMTSP | VTSP 4 | VTSP 5
    deathorse likes this.

Share This Page

Loading...
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.