VMware

vSphere: Install,
Configure, Manage [V6]
VATC Lab Setup Guide

VSICM6_VATCLabSetupGuide.docx
Copyright © 2015 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] i

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
Contents
Contents .......................................................................................................................................ii
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 3
Infrastructure Systems ................................................................................................................ 3
Control Center VM ................................................................................................................................ 3
Student Desktops .................................................................................................................................. 6
ESXi Hosts .............................................................................................................................................. 8
vCenter Server Virtual Appliance ........................................................................................................ 10
NFS Server ........................................................................................................................................... 10
iSCSI Storage ....................................................................................................................................... 11
VROPSHVM ......................................................................................................................................... 12
Network Diagram ...................................................................................................................... 12

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] ii

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
Introduction
This guide provides information that VATCs need to set up the lab environment for the vSphere
Install Configure Manage course.
The lab environment should be set up to accommodate some number of student teams. A
student team consists of 1 or 2 students. Each student team is assigned one complete set of
systems configured to host a vSphere infrastructure, known as the “Day-0” environment.
VMware hosts the vSphere Install Configure Manage class on the VMware VDC lab environment,
under the OneCloud system. This means that all student lab environments are presented as
“vApps” running on top of a vCloud Director hosting environment. VMware recommends that
VATCs use a similar configuration where all systems are virtual machines, running inside of vApps.
This guide lists the hardware requirements, software requirements, and any special
configuration instructions for the systems used in the Day-0 lab environment.

Infrastructure Systems
The Day-0 image is composed of the following eight systems:
• Control Center (CC) – A domain controller hosting the vclass.local domain
• Desktop01 – A student desktop used by the student to gain access to the lab
environment.
• Desktop02 – A student desktop used by the student to gain access to the lab
environment.
• VCVA – vCenter Server Appliance
• ESXi01 – ESXi host
• ESXi02 – ESXi host
• VROPSHVM - vRealize Operations Manager
• iSCSI Server

Control Center VM
CC is designed to provide network services to the students such as AD, DNS, DHCP, and
storage services.
Hardware / Software Requirements
CPU 1 64-bit processor
Memory 2 GB
Disk Disk 0: 25 GB
Disk 1: 160 GB
Networking Three Network Interfaces:
• vAppNet-Fence – 172.20.0.10
• Mgmt-IPStorage – 172.20.10.10
• Production – 172.20.11.10
Operating System Windows 2008
(Note: As of this writing, other Windows
versions have not been tested.)

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 3

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
Networking
The CC virtual machine has 3 network interfaces and acts as the primary router for the
student network topology.

The vAppNet-Fence network interface (172.20.0.10/24) connects the student

environment to the classroom network and other external resources.
The Mgmt-IPStorage network interface (172.20.10.10/24) connects to all systems in the
student environment.
The Production network interface (172.20.11.10/24) connects to the ESXi01 and ESXi02
hosts and their nested virtual machines.

Service – DNS
Install DNS on Control Center as part of the domain setup procedure, allowing Windows
to configure DNS automatically. Once the domain has been configured, add the
following reverse lookup zone.
172.20.x.x

Run ipconfig /registerdns on the domain controller to create the DC PTR record after the
reverse zone has been created.

Add the following host records to the vclass.local forward lookup zone.
Name: ControlCenter (FQDN: cc.vclass.local)
IP: 172.20.10.10

Name: esxi01 (FQDN: esxi01.vclass.local)

IP: 172.20.10.51

Name: esxi02 (FQDN: esxi02.vclass.local)

IP: 172.20.10.52

Name: Desktop01 (FQDN: desktop01.vclass.local)

IP: 172.20.10.91

Name: Desktop02 (FQDN: desktop02.vclass.local)

IP: 172.20.10.92

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 4

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
 Name: vcva01 (FQDN: vcva01.vclass.local)
IP: 172.20.10.94

Name: iscsi (FQDN: iscsi.vclass.local)

IP: 172.20.10.14

Name: NFS (FQDN: nfs.vclass.local)

IP: 172.20.10.10

Name: vcops (FQDN: vcops.vclass.local)

IP: 172.20.10.96

Service - DHCP
Install and authorize the DHCP service on Control Center. Then add the following scopes
and configure scope options.
Name: 172.20.10.0 (Management network)
Range: 172.20.10.100 - 172.20.10.200

Name: 172.20.11.0 (Production network for virtual machines)

Range: 172.20.11.201 - 172.20.11.220

Scope Options for the Production network:

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 5

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
 Option Name Value

003 Router 172.20.11.10

006 DNS Server 172.20.10.10, 172.20.11.10,
172.20.0.10, 127.0.0.1
015 DNS Domain Name vclass.local

Be sure that the DHCP service is authorized, and that all scopes are activated. DHCP
assignment is used only for the virtual machine operations.

Student Desktops

Hardware / Software Requirements

CPU 1 64-bit processor
Memory 8 GB
Disk Disk 0: 40 GB
Networking Two Network Interfaces:
Mgmt-IPStorage network – 172.20.10.91 (Desktop01),
172.20.10.92 (Desktop02)
vAppNet-Fence network – 172.20.0.91 (Desktop01),
172.20.0.92 (Desktop02)
Access to the Internet is NOT needed or provided for lab
exercises.
Operating System Windows 2008
Adobe Flash Player Plugin Version 15.0.0

These student desktops are two Windows 2008 virtual machines that students will
access during labs. Students install and/or run client software on these desktops,
including vSphere Client, vSphere Web Client, vSphere Update Manager client, and
vRealize Operations Manager client.

User accounts:
The student Desktops should be created as a member of or added to the vclass.local
domain. Students log into these systems as the domain administrator. Any account used
by the students should have similar permissions.
Username: vclass\Administrator
Password: VMware1!

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 6

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
Software – Mozilla Firefox
Install the latest version of Firefox web browser (avoid Google Chrome) for all users, and
place a shortcut on the desktop. Make sure that the Firefox shortcut appears on the all
users’ desktop (c:\Users\public\desktop).
The Firefox should be configured in the following ways:
- Disable automatic updating
- Enable the Shortcut Bar
- Enable the Menu Bar
- Create a “vSphere Web Client” shortcut on the shortcut bar to the vSphere Web Client
- Create a “vROPS” shortcut on the shortcut bar to the VMware vRealize Operations
Manager UI.

Software – WinSCP
It is recommended (not required) that you install WinSCP (version 4.3.2 or higher) for all
users and place a shortcut on the desktop. This is for the convenience of file transfers.
Downloads Folder
Download the VMware Remote Console from the VMware website and place it in the
Downloads folder.
Desktop – lab folder
Create a lab files folder on the student desktop that contains:
1) vSphere Installer (VMware-VIMSetup-all-6.0.0-<build_number>), including the
vSphere Client, vSphere Update Manager installation files and other
components. This installer can be downloaded from the VATC website.

2) vSphere Update Manager patch bundle zip file. This file can be downloaded
from the VATC website.
VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 7
VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
ESXi Hosts

There are two ESXi hosts. Each ESXi host must meet the following hardware requirements:

Hardware / Software Requirements

CPU Two 64-bit processors (minimum)
Memory 6 GB (Must be exactly 6 GB because a lab was written based on this setting.)
Disk Disk 0: 32 GB
Networking Four Network Interfaces (1 Gbps each interface is recommended):
• NIC 0 (vmnic0):
Management network: 172.20.10.51 (ESXi01), 172.20.10.52 (ESXi02)
IP Storage: 172.20.10.61 (ESXi01), 172.20.10.62 (ESXi02)
• NIC 1 (vmnic1):
Production network (for standard switch):
172.20.11.51 (ESXi01), 172.20.11.52 (ESXi02)
• NIC 3 (vmnic3):
Production network (for Distributed Virtual Switch):
172.20.11.61 (ESXi01), 172.20.11.62 (ESXi02)
• NIC 2 (vmnic2):
vMotion network: 172.20.12.51 (ESXi01), 172.20.12.52 (ESXi02)

Operating System ESXi 6.0.0, 2494585

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 8

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
Storage:
Each host has a local datastore on the local 32 GB hard drive:
- The first 7 GB is consumed by the ESXi installation
- The remaining ~25 GB is used to create the local datastore.
o ESXi01 has a datastore named Datastore1
o ESXi02 should have the datastore renamed to Datastore2

Folder\File
ISOFiles\ClassFiles-vSphere.iso
ISOFiles\en_windows_server_2008_
datacenter_enterprise_standard_with
out_hyperv_x86_dvd_X14-27006.iso
Purpose
ISO image that contains the cpubusy.vbs
and IOMeter.exe files.
Virtual machine guest operating system:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32-bit)
Standard without Hyper-V

1) Shared Datastores: two LUNs per ESXi host (22 GB each). StarWind has been
used to provide shared datastores. ESXi01 host has LUN 1 and LUN 2. ESXi02 host
has LUN 3 and LUN 4. Please see the screenshot below.

2) RDM: one LUN per ESXi host (16 MB each). StarWind has been used to provide
shared datastores. ESXi01 host has LUN 5. ESXi02 host has LUN 6. Please see the
screenshot below.

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 9

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
vCenter Server Virtual Appliance
Hardware Requirements
CPU 4 CPUs
Memory 16 GB
Disk 170 GB
Networking Management network interface – 172.20.10.94
Version 6.0.0-2562643
These instructions are for the configuration of a vCenter Server Virtual Appliance. This
information is also applicable to a Windows vCenter Server.
The VCSA Configuration is as follows
- Name: vcva01
- OS Password: VMware1!
- Single Sign-On Password: VMware1!
- Single Sign-On Domain: vsphere.local
- Single Sign-On site name: Training
- IPv4 Static address: 172.20.10.94
- Full name (FQDN): vcva01.vclass.local
- SSH: Enabled

NFS Server

There is one NFS server for the class. The NFS server should be configured to export
two LUNs (one for each ESXi host). These LUNs are used by the students for the NFS lab.
The NFS volumes are Windows 2008 Native NFS shares and are configured on the
Control Center’s C: drive. The shares should have the “Everyone” and ANONYMOUS
LOGON” group[s with Read/Write access. The DNS name should be nfs.vclass.local and
reference the IP address of the control center. The two LUNs exported should be
/nfsvol1 and /nfsvol2.

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 10

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
iSCSI Storage

In the VMware class the iSCSI server is provided by the StarWind VM (172.20.10.14). The
iSCSI should host six LUNs (three per ESXi host) should be configured on StarWind.
Hardware / Software Requirements
CPU 1 64-bit processor
Memory 2 GB
Disk Disk 0: 25 GB
Disk 1: 160 GB
Networking Network Interface:
• Mgmt-IPStorage – 172.20.10.14

Operating System Windows 2008

(Note: As of this writing, other Windows
versions have not been tested.)

Each ESXi host should have:

• 4 shared LUNs (two for each ESXi host, 22 GB each) for the VMFS lab.
• 2 shared LUNs (one for each ESXi host, 16 GB each) for the Raw Device Mapping
lab.
The LUN configuration on StarWind should be similar to the graphic below:

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 11

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015
VROPSHVM
The VROPSHVM virtual appliance is provided for you by VMware Education.

Download the virtual appliance from the VATC web site at vatc.vmeduc.com.
The VROPSHVM virtual appliance has the following minimum hardware requirements:
Hardware / Software Requirements
CPU 2 64-bit processors
Memory 8 GB
Disks Disk 0: 12GB
Disk 1: 250GB
Disk 2: 4GB
Networking – 1 interface Management network
IP address: 172.20.10.96
Operating System SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 (64-bit)

Network Diagram

VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage [V6] 12

VATC Lab Setup Guide – April 20, 2015