VMWARE VSPHERE 8.

0
OPERATE, SCALE AND SECURE

Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Document Version: 2023-05-23

Copyright © 2023 Network Development Group, Inc.

www.netdevgroup.com

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VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc.

Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 3
Objective ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Lab Topology ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Lab Settings ................................................................................................................................................. 5
1 Verify That the vCenter Server Licenses Are Valid ............................................................................. 6
2 Verify That the ESXi Licenses Are Valid............................................................................................... 9

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Introduction

In this lab, you will verify that vSphere licenses are valid in order to achieve optimal operational
efficiency, scalability, and security within your vSphere environment.

Verifying licenses in vSphere 8 is a critical aspect of maintaining compliance and ensuring that you have
access to all the features and functionality of the software. By verifying licenses, you can confirm that
you are using the software in accordance with the license agreement and avoid potential legal
consequences such as fines or penalties.

Moreover, in vSphere 8 there are several new features and capabilities that require specific licenses to
access. For example, vSphere Distributed Switch and vSphere Trust Authority require specific licenses to
be activated. By verifying licenses, you can ensure that you have access to these new features and
capabilities, which can help improve the operation, scalability, and security of your vSphere
environment.

In summary, verifying licenses in vSphere 8 is crucial to maintain compliance, avoid legal consequences,
and access all the features and capabilities of the software that you have paid for.

Objectives

• Verify that the vCenter Server Licenses are valid

• Verify that the ESXi Licenses are valid

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Lab Topology

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Lab Settings

The information in the table below will be needed to complete the lab. The task sections beyond
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 [email protected] NDGlabpass123!

sa-esxi-01 eth0: 172.20.10.51 root NDGlabpass123!

sa-esxi-02 eth0: 172.20.10.52 root NDGlabpass123!

sa-esxi-03 eth0: 172.20.10.53 root NDGlabpass123!

sa-aio eth0: 172.20.10.10 sysadmin NDGlabpass123!

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

1 Verify That the vCenter Server Licenses Are Valid

In this task, you will verify that the license for the vCenter Server system is valid.

It is important to verify that the vCenter Server License is valid before making any advanced settings
changes in vSphere, for several reasons:

• Compliance: Advanced settings may require specific license levels or features, so if the license
is not valid, the settings may not function as expected or may be in violation of licensing
agreements.
• Limitations: If the license is not valid or does not have the necessary features, some advanced
settings may not be available or may be limited in their functionality.
• Risk of downtime: Some advanced settings can have a significant impact on the vSphere
environment and may require a restart or other disruptive actions. If the license is not valid,
this could result in downtime or other issues.
• Supportability: VMware support may not provide assistance or troubleshoot issues related to
advanced settings if the license is not valid or does not have the necessary features.

Therefore, it is important to verify the validity of the vCenter Server License before making any
advanced settings changes in vSphere to ensure compliance, avoid limitations, minimize downtime,
and maintain supportability.

1. Launch the sa-student Virtual Machine (VM) to access the graphical login screen.

To launch the console window for a VM, you may either click on the
VM’s graphic image from the topology page or click on the VM’s
respective tab from the navigation bar.

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

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

3. In Firefox, click LAUNCH VSPHERE CLIENT.

If the VMware Getting Started web page 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.

4. To log in to the vCenter Server Appliance, enter [email protected] as the username and
NDGlabpass123! as the password. Click LOGIN.

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

5. In the navigator pane, ensure that you are viewing the Hosts and Clusters tab and select sa-
vcsa.vclass.local. In the right-pane, click the Configure tab and navigate to Settings > Licensing.

6. Verify that the license expiration date for the vCenter instance is not expired. For documentation
purposes, the lab license key has been grayed out.

7. Leave the vSphere Client open and continue to the next task.

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

2 Verify That the ESXi Licenses Are Valid

In this task, you will verify that the licenses for the ESXi hosts are valid.

It is good practice to verify the validity of your ESXi license for several reasons:

• Compliance with licensing agreements: Using an invalid or expired license for ESXi is a violation
of VMware's licensing agreements, which can result in legal and financial consequences.
• Ensuring access to support and updates: Valid ESXi licenses provide access to technical support
and updates from VMware. Without a valid license, you may not be able to receive critical
security patches, bug fixes, and other updates that are essential to maintaining the stability and
security of your virtual infrastructure.
• Avoiding unexpected downtime: In some cases, a license key might work for a period of time,
but later get revoked or expire. If this happens without your knowledge, it could lead to
unexpected downtime, which could negatively impact your business operations.
• Maintaining performance and scalability: Valid ESXi licenses enable features such as vMotion,
High Availability (HA), and Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), which help improve the
performance and scalability of your virtual infrastructure. Without a valid license, you may not
be able to take advantage of these features, leading to performance and scalability issues.

Overall, verifying the validity of your ESXi license is a crucial step in maintaining a secure, stable, and
compliant virtual infrastructure.

1. From the main menu, select Administration.

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

2. In the Administration pane, navigate to Licensing > Licenses.

3. On the Licenses page, click Assets and select the HOSTS tab.

4. Expand sa-esxi-01.vclass.local to view more details.

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

5. On the Summary tab, verify that the license for host sa-esxi-01.vclass.local is not expired. Notice
the ESXi license product aligns with vSphere 8 Enterprise Plus.

6. Select the Features tab and observe the complete list of features associated with the currently
utilized ESXi license. Scroll through the list of features and notice what is available based on the
current license.

7. Repeat Steps 4 – 6 and verify that sa-esxi-02.vclass.local and sa-esxi-03.vclass.local have valid
license and have not expired.

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Lab 1: Accessing the Lab Environment

Choosing the correct vSphere license when licensing a vSphere environment is

crucial for several reasons:

Compliance with licensing agreements: VMware's licensing agreements

specify the features and capabilities that are included with each license. If you
choose the wrong license, you may inadvertently violate the licensing
agreement, which could result in legal and financial consequences.
Access to features and capabilities: Different vSphere licenses include
different features and capabilities. If you choose the wrong license, you may
not be able to access the features and capabilities that you need to support
your virtual infrastructure, which could negatively impact your business
operations.
Scalability and performance: vSphere licenses provide access to features such
as vMotion, HA, and DRS, which help improve the performance and scalability
of your virtual infrastructure. Choosing the wrong license could limit your
ability to scale your virtual infrastructure and negatively impact its
performance.
Cost-effectiveness: Different vSphere licenses have different costs associated
with them. Choosing the wrong license could result in paying for features and
capabilities that you don't need, or not having access to features that you do
need, which could impact the cost-effectiveness of your virtual infrastructure.

In summary, choosing the correct vSphere license is critical to ensuring

compliance with licensing agreements, accessing the necessary features and
capabilities for your virtual infrastructure, maintaining scalability and
performance, and achieving cost-effectiveness.

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

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