VCAP6 - Cloud Management and Automation Deployment Study Guide

The following is a list of links to my exam prep posts for the VCAP6-CMA Deploy exam.

The official VMware Blueprint is located here

Blueprint

Section 1 - Deploy and Manage vRealize Automation Components

• Objective 1.1 - Deploy and Manage a vRA Appliance and IaaS Server as single nodes
• Objective 1.2 - Deploy and Manage vRA Appliances and IaaS Servers in a Distributed Configuration
• Objective 1.3 - Deploy and Manage vRealize Automation Center Infrastructure Components
• Objective 1.4 - Configure Infrastructure/Cloud-based Endpoints
• Objective 1.5 - Create Fabric Groups utilizing Reservations and Reservation Policies

Section 2 - Configure Tenant Properties

• Objective 2.1 - Configure Tenant Properties
• Objective 2.2 - Create/Modify a Business Group

Section 3 - Configure Network and Security Automation

• Objective 3.1 - Configure and Manage NSX Integration with vRealize Automation
• Objective 3.2 - Deploy and Manage Certificates and Access Control (Partial)

Section 4 - Create and Manage Machine Blueprints

• Objective 4.1 - Create and Configure vRealize Automation Machine Blueprints
• Objective 4.2 - Publish a Machine Blueprint to a Service Catalog
• Objective 4.3 - Manage Custom Properties and Build Profiles
• Objective 4.4 - Import existing Workloads

Section 5: Deploy and Manage vRealize Orchestrator

• Objective 5.1 - Configure vRO for vRA
• Objective 5.2 - Modify a Blueprint to invoke a Workflow during a Lifecycle Change
• Objective 5.3 - Create/Modify/Execute a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow (partial)

Section 6 - Configure and Deploy XaaS Components

• Objective 6.1 - Configure Advanced Service Designer
• Objective 6.2 - Create and Publish a Service Blueprint
• Objective 6.3 - Create Custom Resources and Actions

Section 7 - Deploy vRealize Application Services

• Objective 7.1 - Deploy and Manage a vRealize Application Services Appliance
• Objective 7.2 - Create and Publish an Application Blueprint

Section 8 - Deploy vRealize Business Standard

• Objective 8.1 - Deploy and Manage a vRealize Business Standard Appliance
• Objective 8.2 - Configure vRealize Business Standard Costing and Reporting

Section 9 - Troubleshoot a vRealize Automation Deployment

• Objective 9.1 - Troubleshoot Catalog Issues
• Objective 9.2 - Configure, Manage and Collect vRA and Application Services Logs
• Objective 9.3 - Troubleshoot Approval Policy Issues
• Objective 9.4 - Troubleshoot Distributed Execution Manager Issues
• Objective 9.5 - Troubleshoot Endpoint Issues
• Objective 9.6 - Troubleshoot vRealize Orchestrator Workflow Issues

Additional Resources

As part of addressing the different objectives in the blueprint above, I have created additional posts where it has been easier to separate out and refer multiple times to the same procedure. These are also called out separately below so you don’t have to trawl through the posts to find them.

vRealize Identity Appliance

• HOWTO: Deploy the VMware vRealize Automation 6.x Appliance (OVA)
• HOWTO: Deploy the Identity Appliance for vRealize Automation 6.x

vRealize Automation Appliance

• HOWTO: Configure the VMware Identity Appliance for vRealize Automation 6.x
• HOWTO: Configure the VMware vRealize Automation 6.x Appliance (Minimal Deployment)
• HOWTO: Configure the vRealize Automation 6.x Appliance(s) (Distributed Install)

vRealize Automation IaaS Components

• HOWTO: Install the VMware vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS Prerequisites
• HOWTO: Obtain the vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS Installer Package
• HOWTO: Install the VMware vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS Components (Simple Install)
• HOWTO: Deploy VMware vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS Database (Distributed Install)
• HOWTO: Deploy VMware vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS Web Servers (Distributed Install)
• HOWTO: Deploy VMware vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS Manager Servers (Distributed Install)
• HOWTO: Deploy VMware vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS DEM Worker (Distributed Install)
• HOWTO: Deploy VMware vRealize Automation 6.x IaaS Proxy Agent (Distributed Install)
• HOWTO: Create a vSphere Endpoint in VMware vRealize Automation 6.x

Application Services

• HOWTO: Deploy VMware vRealize Automation 6.x Application Services

vRealize Business

• HOWTO: Deploy VMware vRealize Business for Cloud for vRealize Automation

Blueprinting

• HOWTO: Create a vRealize Automation 6.x vSphere Linked-Clone Blueprint

Orchestration

• HOWTO: Deploy the vRealize Orchestrator 6.x Appliance for vRealize Automation
• HOWTO: Configure a vRealize Automation 6 Advanced Services Endpoint for Active Directory
• HOWTO: Configure a vRealize Automation 6 Advanced Services Endpoint for vCenter Server

Official Resources

VMware Hands On Labs

Note: These Labs may no longer be available.

• HOL-SDC-1421
• HOL-SDC-1624

Community Resources

• vRealize Automation 6.0 Distributed Install using NetScaler VPX and vSphere 6.0 PSC - Sam McGeown
• Open902.com - Michael Rudloff’s Blog which has a wealth of information on vRA6 and vRA7
• grantorchard.com - Grant Orchard’s Blog - a encylopedia of information on vRA
• virtualjad.com - Jad El-Zein’s blog
• The IT Hollow - Eric Shank’s Guide to Installing vRealize Automation 6.x