For those taking exam 3V0-21.20 (also known as Advanced Deploy VMware vSphere 6.7) then you’ll know that the exam is a real lab that you need to fix issues in or change configuration based on given scenarios.
This post runs through how to use version 2 of my VCAP Deploy Exam Simulator. In the older version, I provided the lab environment but this was difficult to maintain and I wasn’t able to schedule the simulator fast enough for everyone.
This version of the simulator uses the VMware Hands-on-Labs environment which is very similar to the real exam environment. Furthermore, it is online all the time so you can freely go through the lab questions below without having to wait for an available slot or wait for me to open a session for you.
Below I provide 17 questions, just like the real exam and you have the same time to complete them. I provide the answers in guide form under each question (hidden by default) so you can try to figure it out before opening the answers to check your work.
Launching the Exam simulator
Since the real exam is based on the Hands-on-Labs environment, it makes a lot of sense to use the same environment to answer the practise questions
- Click here to open the Hands-on-Lab environment
- You may need to login/register
- The HOL can take a few seconds to open. Ensure your pop-up blocker doesn’t interfere
- Extend the time to approximately 3.5 hours to best simulate the exam time of 200 minutes (Hit the extend button)
- Open Google Chrome to familiarise yourself with the bookmarks
- Notice that there is a notes button on the top of the screen. This contains the vCenter credentials
- Close the manual on the right
- Maximise the lab screen
YOU’RE READY TO GO!!
- My practise exam questions are below. They cover various sections of the exam blueprint
- None of the questions are knowingly taken from the real exam
- Complete each question at a time. Skip something if you don’t know how to do it. Come back to those question(s) at the end if there is time
- Expand the answer section to see the answer. Click the images within the answer section to make them larger (They open in a new tab so you won’t lose your place)
- Please send any feedback to me and I’ll do my best to update the questions and answers
- Enjoy!
Question 1
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Configure esx-01a.corp.local to use vcsa-01b.corp.local as the central syslog server on TCP using the default syslog port
Answer to Question 1
- Use the shortcuts within Google Chrome to open the web client.
- Use the credentials in the notes tab to login
- Edit Advanced System Settings for the host (click the images below to enlarge)
- Search for all syslog settings
- Set the syslog.global.logHost configuration to: tcp://vcsa-01b.corp.local:514
Question 2
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Create a new host baseline to contain patch named “Updates tools-light VIB” released on 12/04/2019
- Apply the baseline to the cluster named RegionA01-COMP01
Answer to Question 2
- Home > Lifecycle Manager (Previously known as Update Manager)
- Baselines > New > Baseline
- Enter a baseline name
- Select Patch
- Select the fixed option / Uncheck Automatically update
- Use the search for tools-light
- Select the correct patch (scroll right to see the other column headings)
- Save the baseline
- Home > Hosts and Clusters
- Select the correct cluster: RegionA01-COMP01
- Update Manager / Updates
- Attach > Baseline
- Select the baseline created earlier
- Complete the wizard to attach the baseline to the cluster
Question 3
- Using the CLI, mark the datastore named RegionA01-ISCSI01-COMP01 as an SSD
Answer to Question 3
- From the web client, get the name of the storage device which is backing the described datastore name:
- Open Putty and SSH to one of the hosts that this datastore is connected to
- Run the following command
- esxcli storage nmp device list
- Locate the id of the datastore which is in brackets next to the datastore name
- Save this id to the clipboard/notepad
- Also, make a note of the “Storage Array Type” (SATP) In this case it is VMW_SATP_ALUA
- Run the following command, using the correct SATP and device ID from above
- esxcli storage nmp satp rule add –satp=SATP –device ID –option “enable_ssd”
- Put the host into maintenance mode
- Reboot the host
- Once the host is back online, select it from the web client
- Configure > Storage Devices
- Notice that the drive type is now “Flash”
Question 4
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Create a new Virtual Machine Storage Policy
- The policy should use default host-based encryption properties
Answer to Question 4
- Menu> Policies & Profiles
- Create VM Storage Policy
- Name the policy
- Enable Hist based rules
- Encryption > Default encryption properties
- Next and finish
Question 5
- Using the CLI, create a new TCP/IP stack on the host named esx-01b.corp.local
- Name the stack “Custom Stack”
Answer to Question 5
- Use putty to SSH to the host named esx-01b.corp.local
- Enter the following command
- esxcli network ip netstack add -N “Custom Stack”
Question 6
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Enable netflow on the VM-RegionA01-vDS-COMP distributed switch
- Set the netflow collector address to 192.168.100.1 and port to 9996
Answer to Question 6
- Locate the portgroup named VM-RegionA01-vDS-COMP
- Enable Netflow
- Apply the Netflow configuration (Server 192.168.100.1 Port:9996)
Question 7
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Enable HA on the RegionA01-COMP01
- Ensure VMs are shutdown and restarted if a host in the cluster becomes isolated
- Ensure VMs are rebooted a maximum of 1 time in any 24 hour window while protected with Virtual Machine Monitoring
Answer to Question 7
- Edit the settings of the cluster named RegionA01-COMP01
- Select vSphere Availability and select Edit
- Enable the slider next to “vSphere HA”
- Under “Failures and Responses”, next to “Response for host isolation” select Shutdown and restart VMs
- Next to VM Monitoring, set the option to VM Monitoring only
- Expand VM Monitoring, scroll down and change the following settings:
- Maximum per-VM resets: 1
- Maximum resets time window: Within 24 hrs
Question 8
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Enable DPM on the least conservative mode on RegionA01-COMP01
- Create an alarm on the same cluster to email helpdesk@example.com when a host cannot exit standby mode
Answer to Question 8
- Hosts and Clusters> Select RegionA01-COMP01 Configure > vSphere DRS > Edit
- Set Power Management > Automation Level to Automatic
- Set the DPM Threshold to Aggressive
- Home > Hosts and Clusters > RegionA01-COMP01 > Monitor > All Issues > Actions> Alarm Definitions > New Alarm Definition
- Name the alarm
- Target Type: Hosts
- Monitor for: Specific event occurring on this object, for example VM Power On
- Add the following rule: IF Cannot Exit Standby Mode THEN Show as Critical & Send Email notifications
- Use the email address: helpdesk@example.com
Question 9
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the flash client
- Validate that the prerequisits for vMotion are met for the hosts in the cluster named: RegionA01-COMP01
Answer to Question 9
- Hosts and Clusters> Select each host in RegionA01-COMP01
- Datastores
- Ensure each host has access to the same datastores (Ensure shared storage exists for all hosts in the cluster)
- Hosts and Clusters> Select each host in RegionA01-COMP01
- Configure > Physical adapters
- Ensure each vmnic connected to the vMotion enabled VMkernel adapter is at least 1Gb
- Hosts and Clusters> Select each host in RegionA01-COMP01
- Configure > VMkernel adapters
- Ensure each vMotion enabled VMkernel adapter has an IP address in the same subnet
- Validate the configuration be performing a vMotion of one of the VMs from one host to another in the same cluster
Question 10
- Launch PowerCLI from the desktop
- Run a PowerCLI command to create a snapshot of any VM in the inventory
Answer to Question 10
- Run the commands as shown in the screenshot below. You might need to use a different VM name if the one below does not exist
- Verify that the snapshot exists in the web client
Question 11
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Create a new host profile from the host named esx-01a.corp.local
- Remove all settings except for Firewall Configuration from the host profile
- Apply the host profile to all hosts in the cluster named RegionA01-COMP01 with the least administrative effort
Answer to Question 11
- Menu> Policies and Profiles > Host Profiles > Extract host profile > Select esx-01a.corp.local
- Complete the wizard to Create the new host profile
- The profile will take some time to create
- Menu > Policies and Profiles > Host Profiles
- Right-click the newly created host profile and Edit Host Profile
- Under “Edit host profile” deselect all sections except Security and Services
- Expand Security and Services
- Deselect all sections except Firewall Configuration
- Finish the wizard to complete the configuration
- Right click the newly created host profile > Attach/Detach Hosts and Clusters
- Select the cluster named RegionA01-COMP01
- Save
Question 12
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Create a log bundle containing logs for vcsa-01a.corp.local, web client & esx-02a.corp.local only
Answer to Question 12
- Hosts and Clusters
- Right click the VCSA > Export System Logs
- Select esx-02a.corp.local
- Select the box to also include logs for the VCSA and Web Client
- Complete the wizard
Question 13
- Use Putty to SSH to esx-02a.corp.local
- Run esxtop for a few seconds, redirecting all output to a csv file
- Verify that data was captured in the output file
Answer to Question 13
- SSH to esx-02a.corp.local using Putty
- Run the command esxtop > /tmp/esxtop.csv
- After a few seconds, cancel the export with CTRL + C
- Run “cat esxtop.csv” to verify that the output file has content
Question 14
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Enable Hot-Add CPU for VM app01a
Answer to Question 14
- Select the VM named app01a
- Ensure the VM is powered off
- Edit settings
- Under CPU, select Enable CPU Hot Plug
Question 15
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the flash client
- Backup the dVS on vcsa-01a.corp.local with all portgroups
Answer to Question 15
- Networking
- Select the distributed switch
- Action > Settings > Export Configuration
- Select Distributed switch and all port groups
- Select OK
Question 16
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Enable the MOB for the host named esx-02a.corp.local
Answer to Question 16
- Hosts and Clusters
- Select the host named esx-02a.corp.local
- Configure > Advanced System Settings > Edit
- Use the search, type MOB
- Set the value to true for the entry named Config.HostAgent.plugins.solo.enableMob
Question 17
- Login to RegionA vCenter with the web client
- Change the default password policy to require a password longer than 12 characters
- Ensure that new passwords cannot match any of the last 5 used passwords
Answer to Question 17
- Login to the VC > Home > Administration > Single Sign-On – Configuration
- Local Accounts > Password Policy > Edit
Change Restrict reuse to 5 passwords
- Change minimum length to 13
Complete
This concludes the practice exam.
Remember to read the blueprint and ensure you can complete all sections before taking the exam.
If you have any feedback or comments, please let me know.
Good luck!
Exam tips
Do not waste time reading the documentation. Time will pass VERY quickly so if you are not sure about a question, mark it for review and go back to it later.
The exam interface is very similar to the Hands on Labs (HOL)
Documentation should be available on the desktop but if you need to use it you will run out of time. Only read the documentation if you have unanswered questions at the end of the exam.
Once again, read through the blueprint and ensure you can complete everything listed, this is the key to passing the exam!
Exam preparation
Exam details and blueprint https://www.vmware.com/education-services/certification/vcap-dcv-deploy-2020-exam.html
If you have any questions you can contact me on twitter (My DMs are always open) @virtualg_uk
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