S

VMWARE VSPHERE 8.0

INSTALL, CONFIGURE, MANAGE

Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Document Version: 2023-03-8

Copyright © 2023 Network Development Group, Inc.

www.netdevgroup.com

NETLAB+ is a registered trademark of Network Development Group, Inc.

VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc.

79BLab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Objective ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Lab Topology ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Lab Settings ............................................................................................................................................... 5
1 Log In and Navigate to an ESXi Host Via the VMware Host Client ..................................................... 6
2 Log In to vCenter with the vSphere Client ....................................................................................... 10

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Introduction

In this lab, you will become familiar with the vSphere Client and VMware Host Client.

The vSphere Client is a graphical user interface (GUI) used to manage and monitor VMware vSphere
environments, including vCenter Servers and ESXi hosts. The VMware Host Client is a web-based
application that allows you to manage individual ESXi hosts and perform certain host-level tasks.

Both tools allow you to manage vSphere environments, including vCenter Server and ESXi hosts, using
supported web browsers. However, the vSphere Client provides more advanced features and
functionality compared to the VMware Host Client.

Here are some key differences between the two:

• Features: The vSphere Client provides a more comprehensive set of features and options
compared to the VMware Host Client, which has a more limited set of capabilities.
• Ease of use: The VMware Host Client has a simpler, more intuitive interface compared to the
vSphere Client, which may require more knowledge and experience to use effectively.
• Scalability: The vSphere Client can connect and manage multiple ESXi hosts, while the VMware
Host Client can only connect and manage a single ESXi host.

Overall, the vSphere Client is generally considered to be a more powerful and feature-rich tool, while
the VMware Host Client is more convenient and easier to use, especially for basic tasks.

Objective

• Log In and Navigate an ESXi Host via the VMware Host Client
• Log In and Navigate a vCenter Server via the vSphere Client

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Lab Topology

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Lab Settings

The information in the table below will be needed to complete the lab. The numbered task sections
further below provide details on the use of this information.

Virtual Machine IP Address Account Password

sa-student eth0: 172.20.10.80 sysadmin NDGlabpass123!

sa-vcsa eth0: 172.20.10.94 sysadmin@vclass.local NDGlabpass123!

sa-esxi-01 eth0: 172.20.10.51 root NDGlabpass123!

sa-esxi-02 eth0: 172.20.10.52 root NDGlabpass123!

sa-aio eth0: 172.20.10.10 sysadmin NDGlabpass123!

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79BLab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

1 Log In and Navigate to an ESXi Host Via the VMware Host Client

In this task, you will be logging in to the sa-esxi-01.vclass.local server as the root user and familiarizing
yourself with the user interface (UI) of the VMware Host Client.

The VMware Host Client is a web-based application that allows administrators to manage individual
ESXi hosts, and perform tasks such as deploying and configuring Virtual Machines (VMs), creating and
managing networking and datastores, and advanced host-level tuning to improve performance. It is
important to note that the VMware Host Client is different from the vSphere Client, which is used to
connect to and manage multiple ESXi hosts through vCenter Server. The VMware Host Client can be
used as an alternative to the vSphere Client in situations where vCenter Server is not available, or to
manage a single ESXi host.

1. Launch the sa-student VM to access the graphical login screen.

To launch the console window for a VM, either click on the machine’s
graphic image from the topology page, or click on the machine’s
respective tab from the Navigator.

2. Launch the Mozilla Firefox web browser by either clicking on the icon found in the bottom toolbar
or by navigating to Start Menu > Internet > Firefox Web Browser.

3. Notice that Firefox opens to the vSphere Client. In this task, launch a new tab in Firefox.

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4. On the new tab, go to the Bookmarks Toolbar, and select [Client] sa-esxi-01.

5. In the Username field, type root and in the Password field, type NDGlabpass123! and click LOGIN.

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6. The VMware Host Client allows you to view information about the selected host, including CPU,
memory, and storage details. You can also explore the user interface by clicking on objects in the
Navigator, and viewing their information in the right pane.

A message may appear stating “This host is being managed by vCenter Server and
automated actions may be performed without your knowledge.”

This message is informing you that the host is connected to vCenter Server and
automated actions may take place outside of the VMware Host Client view.

In a later lab, you will learn how to install, configure, and manage an ESXi host.

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79BLab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

7. Explore the user interface by clicking objects in the Navigator, and viewing their information in the
right pane.

8. To log out of the VMware Host Client, use the Log out function located in the drop-down menu
near the top-right corner of the window. This menu can be accessed by clicking on root@sa-esxi-
01.vclass.local. Lastly, close the sa-esxi-01.vclass.local tab by clicking on the X icon.

9. Leave Firefox open and proceed to the next task.

Remember that the VMware Host Client is a web-based interface for managing
an ESXi host. It allows you to perform various tasks such as creating and
managing virtual machines, configuring networking and storage, and viewing
performance statistics. The VMware Host Client can be accessed from any
device with a web browser and is an alternative to using the vSphere Client,
which is a standalone application. The VMware Host Client is useful in
situations where the vSphere Client is not available or where you need to
access the host remotely.

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79BLab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

2 Log In to vCenter with the vSphere Client

In this task, you will be logging in to the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) as sysadmin@vclass.local and
familiarizing yourself with the UI of the vSphere Client.

The vSphere Client is a web application that allows you to manage vSphere environments, including
vCenter Server and ESXi hosts. It provides a GUI for performing various tasks such as creating and
managing VMs, configuring networking and storage, and viewing performance statistics. It is important
to note that the vSphere Client is different from the VMware Host Client, which is used to manage an
ESXi host as shown in Task 1.

1. In Firefox, click LAUNCH VSPHERE CLIENT.

If the VMware Getting Started webpage does not load, please wait an additional
3-5 minutes, and refresh the page to continue. This is because the vCenter Server
Appliance is still booting up and requires extra time to initialize.

2. To log in to the vCenter Server Appliance, enter sysadmin@vclass.local as the username and
NDGlabpass123! as the password. Click LOGIN.

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3. In the Navigator, on the Hosts and Clusters tab, select sa-vcsa.vclass.local.

The Hosts and Clusters tab in the vCenter Server is a view that displays the inventory
of your vSphere environment, including the ESXi hosts that are managed by vCenter
Server and the VMs that are running on those hosts.

The Hosts and Clusters tab is organized in a hierarchical tree structure, with the top
level representing your vCenter Server instance, and the lower levels representing
the various objects in your inventory, such as datacenters, clusters, hosts, and VMs.
You can navigate through this hierarchy to access and manage the different objects
in your environment.

The main page of the selected sa-vcsa.vclass.local tracks and provides information
about the objects it manages, including the total amount of CPU, memory, and
storage being used across all managed hosts.

4. In the Navigator, expand sa-vcsa.vclass.local and ICM-Datacenter.

5. In the Navigator, select sa-esxi-02.vclass.local, then click on the Summary tab.

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6. On the Summary tab for the selected host, you will notice Host Details and Capacity and Usage
(live performance data) are displayed. Scroll down the Summary tab to view more information
about sa-esxi-02.vclass.local.

Note this same information was available in the VMware Host Client
from Task 1.

7. While scrolling, locate the Hardware and Configuration pane. You can view the host's CPU,
memory, network, storage, and image profile information here.

8. In the Navigator, click on the VMs and Templates tab. Then expand the sa-vcsa.vclass.local and
ICM-Datacenter objects. This will allow you to view and manage the VMs and any templates that
reside in your vSphere environment.

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From this tab, you can perform actions such as powering on or off VMs, cloning
VMs, and converting templates to VMs. You can also use this tab to view the
resource usage of your VMs, such as CPU and memory, and the hardware and
configuration details of each VM. In addition, you can use the VMs and Templates
tab to organize your VMs and templates into folders, and to search for specific VMs
or templates using various filters.

In a later lab, you will create folders for VMs and VM templates.

9. In the Navigator, click on the Storage tab. Then expand the sa-vcsa.vclass.local and ICM-
Datacenter objects. This allows you to view and manage the storage resources in your vSphere
environment.

From this tab, you can view the storage capacity and usage of your datastores,
as well as the VMs and templates that are stored on each datastore. You can
also use this tab to create and manage datastores, and to perform actions
such as attaching and detaching datastores from hosts and migrating VMs to
different datastores. In addition, you can use the Storage tab to view the
storage adapters and devices that are attached to your hosts, and to monitor
the performance of your storage resources.

In a later lab, you will view and create storage such as VMFS Datastores.

10. In the Navigator, click on the Networking tab. Then expand the sa-vcsa.vclass.local and ICM-
Datacenter objects. This allows you to view and manage the networking resources in your vSphere
environment.

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From this tab, you can view and configure the virtual switches, port groups,
and distributed switches that are used to connect your VMs to the network.
You can also use this tab to view VM network adapters and the network
connections of your hosts. In addition, you can use the Networking tab to
create and manage network resource pools, and to view and configure the
network security settings of your vSphere environment.

In a later lab, you will view and create networks that will be used to migrate
VMs with vMotion.

11. In the Search in all environments text box at the top of the page, type VMFS. From the search
results, notice all the datastores associated with VMFS.

The search bar in the vSphere Client allows you to quickly locate and access
objects in your vSphere environment. For example, you can use the search bar
to find a specific VM, datastore, host, or network. You can also use the search
bar to find and access specific actions or settings within the vSphere Client. In
the step above, you located all the objects in the vCenter inventory associated
with VMFS. The search bar can be particularly useful if you are working with a
large vSphere environment and need to quickly locate a specific object or
action.

12. To determine the version of the vSphere Client, click on the vSphere Help question mark button at
the top right of the page, then select About VMware vSphere.

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13. In the pop-up window, notice the version of the vSphere Client. Click X to close the window.

14. To change the theme for the vSphere Client UI, click on the username sysadmin@vclass.local at the
top of the page, and then select Switch Theme.

15. Notice the theme changed to dark mode.

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When switching to dark mode, some vSphere Client plugins (including those from
VMware and partners) may not yet be fully compatible and may display visual
inconsistencies. If you encounter any visual errors while using a plugin, you may
need to switch back to the default theme to resolve the issue.

16. The lab is now complete; you may end your reservation.

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