What is the primary difference between using vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) Images and Baselines?

vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images define a precise, desired software stack (ESXi version, vendor add-ons, drivers, and firmware) for the entire cluster, ensuring consistency. Baselines are a legacy method that applies a list of patches or extensions to hosts. Note that starting with vSphere 9.0, using baselines to upgrade clusters is deprecated.

What is the “Quickstart” workflow in vCenter used for?

The Quickstart workflow is a simplified wizard used to quickly configure and extend a cluster. It groups common tasks to help configure cluster basics (HA/DRS/vSAN), add hosts, and configure host networking. Once a cluster is configured via Quickstart, if you modify networking settings manually outside of it, you cannot use Quickstart to add new hosts later,.

What is the purpose of Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC)?

EVC allows virtual machines to migrate (via vMotion) between hosts that have different CPU generations within the same vendor family (Intel or AMD). It works by masking specific CPU features from the VM so that the hosts present a compatible feature set, preventing migration failures due to incompatible CPUs,.

How does vSphere Lifecycle Manager handle “Staging” updates?

 Staging downloads the update components (patches, extensions, or images) from the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot to the ESXi hosts without installing them immediately. This reduces the time the host spends in maintenance mode during the actual remediation process. Staged content is stored in the /scratch partition,,.

What is a vSphere Tag?

A tag is a metadata label assigned to objects in the vSphere inventory (like VMs, hosts, or datastores) to make them easier to sort and search. Tags are grouped into Categories. They can also be used to control placement policies, such as ensuring critical VMs run on specific hosts,.

What are the basic networking requirements for vSphere vMotion?

Each host must have at least one network interface configured for vMotion traffic. The network must be secure (accessible only to trusted parties). It is recommended to use at least one 10 GbE adapter for vMotion to ensure sufficient bandwidth. The source and destination IP address families must match (IPv4 to IPv4),,.

What is the “Desired State” model in vSphere Lifecycle Manager?

The Desired State model manages hosts by defining a target image (software and configuration) that the host should have, rather than listing steps to update it. vLCM monitors the host’s compliance against this image and remediates the host to match the desired state if it drifts,.

Can you use vSphere Lifecycle Manager to upgrade the firmware on ESXi hosts?

Yes, but only if you manage the cluster with a vLCM Image (not baselines). You must install a vendor-provided Hardware Support Manager (HSM) plug-in, which allows you to include a firmware and drivers add-on in the image definition,.

In vSphere 9.0, what is the status of vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baselines, and what is the required action for administrators?

In vSphere 9.0, using baselines to upgrade clusters and standalone hosts is deprecated. Administrators must convert clusters and hosts that use baselines to use vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images to perform upgrades to ESXi 9.0 and later. You cannot revert to baselines once you switch to images,.

Describe the “Live Patch” feature in vSphere Lifecycle Manager and its specific requirements.

Live Patch allows applying security patches and urgent bug fixes to ESXi hosts in a cluster managed by an Image without rebooting the host or entering maintenance mode (no VM evacuation required). Requirements:

• vCenter 9.0 and later.
• ESXi hosts must be 8.0 Update 3 or later.
• Cluster must be managed by an Image (not baselines).
• vSphere DRS must be enabled,,.

How does vSphere Lifecycle Manager manage the lifecycle of a host equipped with a Data Processing Unit (DPU)? 

Hosts with DPUs can only be managed using vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images. The ESXi installation and updates are applied simultaneously to the x86 host and the DPU device. During remediation, vLCM updates the ESXi version on the DPU as part of the host update. You cannot use baselines for DPU-backed clusters,.

Explain the “Suspend to Memory” remediation setting and its prerequisite.

Suspend to Memory preserves the state of running VMs in the host’s RAM during a remediation reboot, rather than migrating them or suspending them to disk. This significantly reduces downtime. Prerequisite: Quick Boot must be enabled. The VMs are resumed from memory after the Quick Boot (which skips the hardware BIOS/UEFI initialization) completes,.

You need to perform a Hardware Compatibility Check for a vSAN cluster managed by an Image. What specific validations does vLCM perform regarding disk drives?

vLCM validates:

1. That the disk drives are certified for the ESXi version in the image as per the vSAN HCL.
2. That the firmware version on the disk drive is equal to or higher than the earliest supported firmware version listed in the vSAN HCL. This validation requires a registered Hardware Support Manager (HSM) to check actual firmware levels,.

How does “Parallel Remediation” work for clusters managed by Images, and what manual step is required?

Parallel remediation allows vLCM to remediate multiple hosts simultaneously instead of sequentially. However, it only remediates hosts that are already in maintenance mode. vLCM does not automatically place hosts into maintenance mode when parallel remediation is enabled; the administrator must do this manually or use scripts.

What is “vSphere Configuration Profiles” and how does it relate to Host Profiles in vSphere 9.0?

vSphere Configuration Profiles allows managing the configuration of all hosts in a cluster collectively using a declarative JSON-based model. It is the modern replacement for Host Profiles. In vSphere 9.0, Host Profiles are deprecated. You can transition an existing cluster to Configuration Profiles by importing the configuration from a reference host,,.

Describe the process of “Draft Configuration” within vSphere Configuration Profiles.

To make changes to a cluster’s configuration, you create a Draft. You edit the settings in the draft (either in the UI or by editing the JSON document). You then run a Draft Pre-check to validate the changes against the hosts. Once validated, you Apply the draft, which remediates the cluster to the new desired configuration,,.

How does Advanced Cross vCenter vMotion (XVM) differ from standard vMotion regarding vCenter requirements?

Advanced XVM does not require the vCenter instances to be in Enhanced Linked Mode or the same SSO domain. You can migrate workloads between entirely separate on-premises environments or between on-premises and cloud environments.

• Export: Requires source vCenter 7.0 U1c+.
• Import: Requires target vCenter 7.0 U1c+,,.

Explain the “Custom EVC Mode” introduced in vSphere 9.0.

 Unlike pre-defined EVC modes that force you to select a specific CPU generation (e.g., “Intel Cascade Lake”), Custom EVC Mode allows you to select a specific set of hosts or clusters. vCenter then calculates the highest common feature set (CPU and vSGA) available across those specific selected objects to create a bespoke EVC profile,.

When migrating a VM with NVIDIA vGPU using vMotion, what is the significance of the “Stun Time Limit”?

vGPU vMotion involves a “stun time” where the VM is inaccessible while memory/state is transferred. In vSphere 8.0 U2 and later, administrators can configure a specific Stun Time Limit. If the estimated stun time for the migration exceeds this configured limit, vCenter will prevent the vMotion to avoid application timeouts or service disruption,.

How do you handle “Depot Overrides” for Remote Office/Branch Office (ROBO) clusters using vLCM Images?

ROBO clusters may have limited bandwidth to the central vCenter depot. You can configure Depot Overrides for specific clusters or standalone hosts. This forces them to download image components (ESXi, drivers) from a local depot (configured via URL) instead of the central vCenter vLCM depot,.

What specific constraint exists when using vSphere Configuration Profiles on a cluster with a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS)?

While vSphere Configuration Profiles can manage VDS settings, if you add a host to the cluster that is currently connected to a Standard Switch (VSS), the remediation pre-check will fail. You must manually add the host to the VDS before remediating the cluster with vSphere Configuration Profiles,.

Explain the “Recommendation Baseline Groups” generated by vSAN.

 These are system-managed baselines created automatically by the vSAN recommendation engine. They check the current software/hardware state against the vSAN HCL and generate a baseline group containing critical patches and drivers. These cannot be edited or deleted by the administrator and require internet access to refresh,.

How does the “Import Image from a Host” workflow facilitate cluster creation?

During cluster creation, you can select an existing ESXi host (Reference Host). vLCM extracts the software specification (ESXi version, vendor add-ons, components) from that host and applies it as the Cluster Image. This imports the necessary components into the vLCM depot automatically, simplifying air-gapped setups where you only need one configured host to seed the depot,.

What is the impact of enabling “vSphere HA Admission Control” during a vLCM remediation?

If Admission Control is enabled, vMotion might be prevented if moving VMs would violate failover capacity constraints. vLCM can be configured to temporarily deactivate HA Admission Control during remediation to ensure VMs can evacuate the host entering maintenance mode. However, in a two-node cluster, this effectively disables HA guarantees during the upgrade,.

When migrating a VM to a new compute resource and storage (X-vMotion) that uses Persistent Memory (PMem), what validation occurs?

If the source VM has an NVDIMM device or virtual PMem hard disks, the destination host/cluster must have available PMem resources. If the target does not have PMem, the compatibility check will fail, and migration is blocked. If the VM has vPMem disks but no NVDIMM, and the target lacks PMem, the disks will lose their PMem backing and use standard storage,.