This intensive, hands-on course prepares infrastructure and platform engineers to install, configure, secure, automate and operate a VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) environment aligned to the 2V0-16.25 certification objectives. You will learn how to deploy and manage vCenter and ESXi, design and operate vSAN and networking, provision VMs and cloud-native workloads (vSphere Pods, VM Service, VKS), use VCF Operations for monitoring/alerts/logs/costing, and automate Day-2 operations with Orchestrator and Aria Automation Config (SaltStack). The course emphasizes real-world scenarios, decision making, and performance-based problem solving.

Who this course is for

• System / platform administrators preparing for the VMware Certified Professional — vSphere Foundation Administrator (2V0-16.25) exam.

• Infrastructure engineers who manage or will manage VMware Cloud Foundation / vSphere Foundation deployments.

• DevOps engineers who need to understand platform operations, VM Service and Supervisor-based workloads.

• Architects who design VCF/VVF solutions and need operational knowledge.

System / platform administrators preparing for the VMware Certified Professional — vSphere Foundation Administrator (2V0-16.25) exam.

Infrastructure engineers who manage or will manage VMware Cloud Foundation / vSphere Foundation deployments.

DevOps engineers who need to understand platform operations, VM Service and Supervisor-based workloads.

Architects who design VCF/VVF solutions and need operational knowledge.

Learning outcomes (what learners will be able to do)

After completing the course, learners will be able to:

Deploy and configure vCenter, ESXi hosts and vSphere clusters ready for Workload Management.

Design, deploy and tune vSAN (ESA/OSA), create storage policies and configure space-efficiency and resilience models.

Configure VDS and NSX-T networking options for Supervisor and workload traffic; troubleshoot common network issues.

Provision, manage and troubleshoot virtual machines, Content Library workflows, and VM Service CRD-based provisioning.

Deploy and manage Supervisor Services, vSphere Pods, Tanzu Kubernetes workloads and VM Service workloads.

Configure and operate VCF Operations: dashboards, alerts, logs ingestion, storage and chargeback/costing.

Automate Day-2 operations using VCF Orchestrator and Aria Automation Config (SaltStack) — author modular actions and trigger remediation.

Implement identity, RBAC, certificate management and license management for secure multi-tenant operations.

Monitor and enforce security hardening and compliance (CIS/NIST style checks), detect drift and implement remediation workflows.

Apply best practices for HA, scaling, operational runbooks and production readiness checks.

Course outline (modules & key activities)

Module 1 — Foundations & Lab Setup (3–4 hours)

• Course orientation, exam mapping and success strategy

• Lab environment walkthrough (Hands-On Labs, nested ESXi or cloud lab)

• Quick refresher: virtualization, Linux/Windows admin, networking basics
  Hands-on: Provision lab VMs, configure Content Library access

Course orientation, exam mapping and success strategy

Lab environment walkthrough (Hands-On Labs, nested ESXi or cloud lab)

Quick refresher: virtualization, Linux/Windows admin, networking basics
Hands-on: Provision lab VMs, configure Content Library access

Module 2 — Deploy & Configure Compute (6–8 hours)

• vCenter deployment options and Day-2 integration points

• ESXi host installation, host profiles, vLCM overview

• Creating clusters, HA/DRS basics, admission control
  Hands-on: Deploy vCenter, add ESXi hosts, configure cluster basics

vCenter deployment options and Day-2 integration points

ESXi host installation, host profiles, vLCM overview

Creating clusters, HA/DRS basics, admission control
Hands-on: Deploy vCenter, add ESXi hosts, configure cluster basics

Module 3 — vSAN Storage Fundamentals (6–8 hours)

• vSAN ESA vs OSA: architectures and use cases

• Disk groups, policies, storage classes and space-efficiency features

• Resilience options (FTT, RAID-1/RAID-5/6 equivalents), troubleshooting common vSAN issues
  Hands-on: Build vSAN cluster, create storage policies, run health checks

vSAN ESA vs OSA: architectures and use cases

Disk groups, policies, storage classes and space-efficiency features

Resilience options (FTT, RAID-1/RAID-5/6 equivalents), troubleshooting common vSAN issues
Hands-on: Build vSAN cluster, create storage policies, run health checks

Module 4 — Networking for VVF (6–8 hours)

• VDS vs NSX-T: when to choose what, Supervisor transport nodes

• Load balancers, overlay/tunnel considerations, Kubernetes networking concepts

• Troubleshooting flows, port/MTU/segmentation best practices
  Hands-on: Configure VDS/transport nodes, simulate network failure and troubleshoot

VDS vs NSX-T: when to choose what, Supervisor transport nodes

Load balancers, overlay/tunnel considerations, Kubernetes networking concepts

Troubleshooting flows, port/MTU/segmentation best practices
Hands-on: Configure VDS/transport nodes, simulate network failure and troubleshoot

Module 5 — Provisioning Virtual Machines & VM Service (6–8 hours)

• Content Library, templates, OVAs, and VM provisioning best practices

• VM Service concepts: VirtualMachine CRD, VM classes, images, manifests & GitOps patterns

• Day-2 VM lifecycle (snapshots, backups, migration)
  Hands-on: Create templates, provision VMs via UI and VM Service (CRDs)

Content Library, templates, OVAs, and VM provisioning best practices

VM Service concepts: VirtualMachine CRD, VM classes, images, manifests & GitOps patterns

Day-2 VM lifecycle (snapshots, backups, migration)
Hands-on: Create templates, provision VMs via UI and VM Service (CRDs)

Module 6 — Supervisor Services, vSphere Pods & Kubernetes (6–8 hours)

• Enabling Workload Management / Supervisor cluster prerequisites

• vSphere Pods, TKC/TKG (VKS), and Supervisor Services (Harbor, Contour, Argo CD)

• Namespace governance, quotas and RBAC for tenants
  Hands-on: Enable Supervisor, deploy a Supervisor Service, deploy a vSphere Pod and a TKC

Enabling Workload Management / Supervisor cluster prerequisites

vSphere Pods, TKC/TKG (VKS), and Supervisor Services (Harbor, Contour, Argo CD)

Namespace governance, quotas and RBAC for tenants
Hands-on: Enable Supervisor, deploy a Supervisor Service, deploy a vSphere Pod and a TKC

Module 7 — VCF Operations: Monitoring, Logs & Storage Operations (6–8 hours)

• VCF Operations components: Fleet, Operations, Logs, Storage Operations, Chargeback

• Dashboards, Analyze/Logs, Alerts, Policies and Views; setting up cost/rate cards
  Hands-on: Integrate vCenter with Operations, build dashboards, create alerts, ingest logs

VCF Operations components: Fleet, Operations, Logs, Storage Operations, Chargeback

Dashboards, Analyze/Logs, Alerts, Policies and Views; setting up cost/rate cards
Hands-on: Integrate vCenter with Operations, build dashboards, create alerts, ingest logs

Module 8 — Identity, Certificates & Licensing (3–4 hours)

• Identity Broker/SSO integration, role mapping and RBAC patterns

• Centralized certificate management, renewal workflows

• License management and reporting best practices
  Hands-on: Configure Identity Broker, assign roles, renew a certificate

Identity Broker/SSO integration, role mapping and RBAC patterns

Centralized certificate management, renewal workflows

License management and reporting best practices
Hands-on: Configure Identity Broker, assign roles, renew a certificate

Module 9 — Automation & Orchestration (6–8 hours)

• Aria Automation Config / SaltStack integration: use-cases for configuration management

• VCF Operations Orchestrator: Actions, Workflows, locking and best practices

• Build automations: remediation on alert, lifecycle tasks, and connectors (REST/webhook)
  Hands-on: Create an Orchestrator action, wire it to an alert and run a remediation workflow

Aria Automation Config / SaltStack integration: use-cases for configuration management

VCF Operations Orchestrator: Actions, Workflows, locking and best practices

Build automations: remediation on alert, lifecycle tasks, and connectors (REST/webhook)
Hands-on: Create an Orchestrator action, wire it to an alert and run a remediation workflow

Module 10 — Security, Compliance & Day-2 Runbooks (4–6 hours)

• Security hardening checklists, compliance baselines and drift detection

• Applying policies (CIS/NIST), remediation via automation, vulnerability and advisories monitoring

• Operational runbooks: backups, recovery, capacity planning, performance tuning
  Hands-on: Run compliance scans, create a remediation workflow, simulate drift

Security hardening checklists, compliance baselines and drift detection

Applying policies (CIS/NIST), remediation via automation, vulnerability and advisories monitoring

Operational runbooks: backups, recovery, capacity planning, performance tuning
Hands-on: Run compliance scans, create a remediation workflow, simulate drift

Module 11 — Scenarios, Case Studies & Exam Prep (4–6 hours)

• Real-world case studies: multi-tenant deployment, edge/single-node Supervisor, disaster recovery scenario

• Practice performance-based tasks and multiple-choice exam simulations

• Final Q&A, exam readiness checklist, resources

Real-world case studies: multi-tenant deployment, edge/single-node Supervisor, disaster recovery scenario

Practice performance-based tasks and multiple-choice exam simulations

Final Q&A, exam readiness checklist, resources

Labs & practical requirements

• Strongly recommended: lab with nested ESXi or cloud-based hosts (64 GB+ RAM recommended for deeply practical labs).

• Hands-on steps include: vCenter deployment, adding ESXi, vSAN build, Supervisor enablement, Content Library setup, VM Service manifests, Aria Automation Config integration, Orchestrator workflows, and Operations dashboards.

• If you lack local hardware, Hands-On Labs or a hosted lab subscription is acceptable for most exercises.

Strongly recommended: lab with nested ESXi or cloud-based hosts (64 GB+ RAM recommended for deeply practical labs).

Hands-on steps include: vCenter deployment, adding ESXi, vSAN build, Supervisor enablement, Content Library setup, VM Service manifests, Aria Automation Config integration, Orchestrator workflows, and Operations dashboards.

If you lack local hardware, Hands-On Labs or a hosted lab subscription is acceptable for most exercises.