It happened several times that I needed to have some kind of a validation checklist after the vSphere installation. I decided to put together all my notes and collect the specific steps and configurations to be tested in the validation process for VMware Infrastructure. The goal is to quantify the likely performance and to confirm that support of such a configuration will not introduce new risk to the customer.
The validation checklistis divided to the several sections based on the logical segregation of the vSphere environment.
Host Profile Validation
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1. Click extract profile from a host 2. Select the ESXi host 3. Create a host profile using the wizard 4. Right click on a newly created host profile 5. Click on Attach/Detach Hosts and Clusters 6. Attach the host Profile to the Cluster or particular host 7. Check Host Profile status | Host Profile should show compliant status |
Host Profile Backup & Restore
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1. Click extract profile from the representative ESXi host 2. Select the ESXi host 3. Create a host profile using the wizard | Creation of Host Profile |
| 2 | 1. Login to the ESXi console using remote console (IMM, DRAC) 2. From the console, press F2 and select Reset System Configuration and press Enter 3. Press F11 to confirm and reboot the ESXi host 4. Configure the IP address and re-attach the ESXi host to the vCenter server | Resetting the system to the default configuration |
| 3 | 1. Select the Host Profile created in Test #1 2. Click on Attach/Detach Hosts and Clusters 3. Attach the host Profile to the ESXi host 4. On the Customize Host tab review all the settings are correct and attach the profile 5. When finish click on the Compliance check button to check the ESXi host is complaint against the Host profile 6. If the ESXi host in not compliant place the ESXi host into the Maintenance Mode, navigate to the Profile, select Monitor Tab and click Compliance 7. Right click on the host and select All vCenter Actions, Host Profiles and Remediate | All the configuration is restored to the host and the ESXi host should be complaint against the Host Profile |
Virtual Machine
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Provision a new virtual machine | Virtual machine is created on the ESXi host |
| 2 | Add the RAM and CPU to the virtual machine | RAM and CPU can be added |
| 3 | Delete the virtual machine | Virtual machine can be deleted on the ESXi host |
| 4 | Convert virtual machine to template | Virtual machine is converted to template. |
| 5 | Provision virtual machine from template. | Virtual machine can be configured and running. |
| 6 | Clone the virtual machine | Virtual machine can be cloned |
| 7 | Restart virtual machine using Restart Guest | VMware Tools restarts the virtual machine |
| 8 | Open Console | Remote console works between ESXi host and the Web/vSphere client |
| 9 | Connect ISO from datastore | Virtual machines can connect to ISO |
| 10 | Connect CD-ROM on Web/vSphere client local device. | Virtual machines can connect to removable devices |
Update Manager
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select Update Manager from Web/vSphere client | Update Manager screen is displayed. |
| 2 | Create and attach two new baselines: · ESXi host · Virtual machine | Baselines can be created and attached to the ESXi host and virtual machine |
| 3 | Scan ESXi host for updates | Verify scanning ESXi host and comparing against a baseline. |
| 4 | Remediate ESXi host | Updates are successfully installed |
| 4 | Scan virtual machine for updates | Verify scanning a virtual machine and comparing against a baseline |
| 5 | View compliance of virtual machines against the baseline | Virtual machines are compliant with the baseline |
| 6 | Apply updates using remediation wizard | Verify appropriate remediation to a virtual machine |
Storage vMotion
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Migrate a powered on virtual machine to a different datastore | Virtual machine can be migrated to new datastore |
| 2 | Migrate a powered off virtual machine to a different ESXi host and datastore | Virtual machine can be migrated to new datastore and ESXi host |
Cluster
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create a Datacenter in vCenter Server | Datacenter is created and visible in vCenter Server |
| 2 | Create a Cluster in vCenter Server | Cluster is created and visible in vCenter Server |
| 3 | Add an ESXi host to a datacenter | Host is added to datacenter in vCenter Server |
| 4 | Create a resource pool in vCenter Server | Resource pool created and visible in vCenter Server |
| 5 | Migrate virtual machine using vMotion from one ESXi host to another | Virtual machine can be migrated to another ESXi host |
| 6 | Enter one of the ESXi host into Maintenance mode | Virtual machines are migrated to other ESXi host |
| 7 | Reboot or disconnect from the network one of the ESXi host without entering the maintenance mode | Virtual machines running on affected host are restarted on different host in the FDM (HA) cluster |
| 8 | Enable EVC and set it to the latest compatibility level | EVC is enabled |
Storage
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Confirm total number of LUN's presented to ESXi host | ESXi host should have full storage redundancy and see the same number of paths on both HBA cards |
| 2 | Confirm total number of LUN's presented to all ESXi host in one cluster | ESXi hosts in the cluster should all see the same number of LUNs and paths |
| 3 | Create a datastore | Datastore can be created |
| 4 | Convert virtual machine disk from thin to thick | Disk can be converted to the thick format |
| 5 | Using Storage Browser upload a file from the Web Client workstation to a datastore | Uploading and creating files is possible |
| 6 | Using Storage Browser download a file from a datastore to the Web Client | Downloading files is possible |
| 7 | Using Storage Browser delete a file from a datastore | Deleting files is possible |
| 8 | Unplug or logically disconnect HBA card from ESXi host | No impact on datastore connectivity and virtual machine connectivity |
Network
| Test# | Details of a test | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create a vNetwork Distributed Switch (VDS) | vNetwork Distributed Switch is created |
| 2 | Create dvPortgroup on VDS | dvPortgroup is created. |
| 3 | Add vmnic from host to VDS uplink by selecting the appropriate dvPortgroup. | vmnic from host added as uplink to VDS. |
| 4 | Add redundant vmnic from host to VDS uplink.. | Additional vmnic added to VDS. |
| 5 | Configure all Network Adapters for a maximum speed | Maximum speed should be configured, preferably 10 GB Full |
| 6 | Unplug or logically disconnect physical NICs from ESXi host | No impact on ESXi host and virtual machine’s connectivity |
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Jan Hosek is a Virtualization Engineer focusing on the VMware and IBM cloud portfolio. He started with the virtualization in 2009 and since that time gained experience in several T&T projects as IT Administrator, Technical Lead and IT Architect. Jan holds several certifications from VMware (vExpert 2015, VCAP5-DCD, VCAP5-DCA), Microsoft and IBM.
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Are there any checklist points in terms of VM security & backup aspects too ?
For security I would recommend to use VMware Hardening Guides. https://www.vmware.com/uk/security/hardening-guides.html
For backup I would check the vendor’s implementation or best practice guide to verify the configuration.