This five-day course teaches experienced VMware vSphere® administrators how to use the powerful automation tools that all vSphere customers have access to. Using real-world use cases and examples, you learn how to automate day-to-day administration tasks with VMware vSphere® PowerCLI™ and VMware vRealize® Orchestrator™. During class, you use these tools to automate tasks in a realistic lab environment.

Product Alignment
•  VMware vSphere PowerCLI 12.0
•  VMware vRealize Orchestrator 8.1

By the end of the course, you should be able to meet the following objectives:
•  Describe the features and benefits of automation in a vSphere environment
•  Understand the role of the vSphere Web Services API in automation
•  Use the Managed Object Browser (MOB) to view the structure of VMware vSphere® API and VMware vCenter Server® inventory    
•  Use vSphere PowerCLI to deploy and manage virtual machines and virtual infrastructure
•  Run and manage library vRealize Orchestrator workflows
•  Design, develop, and run custom reusable vRealize Orchestrator workflows
•  Incorporate JavaScript into vRealize Orchestrator workflows
•  Use the vRealize Orchestrator PowerShell plug-in in a custom workflow
•  Manage Guest Operations using vRealize Orchestrator and vSphere PowerCLI
•  Describe VMware vSphere® Client™ code capture

Experienced vSphere administrators who want to use available tools to automate day-to-day tasks

Completion of the following courses, or equivalent experience with vSphere deployments:
•  VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage

1  Course Introduction
•  Introductions and course logistics
•  Course objectives

2  Automation in vSphere
•  Identify the tools available to vSphere administrators for automation
•  Understand the benefits of automation
•  Understand the function of black boxes in programming

3  vSphere Web Services API
•  Identify the function of an API
•  Recognize the components of the vSphere Web Services API
•  Understand how the vSphere Web Services API is used by automation tools
•  Understand object-oriented terminology relevant to the vSphere Web Services API
•  Use the MOB to explore the vSphere object model and invoke methods

4  vSphere PowerCLI Basics
•  Describe features of vSphere PowerCLI
•  List common tasks to perform with vSphere PowerCLI
•  Connect vSphere PowerCLI to vCenter Server and VMware ESXi™ hosts
•  Define variables to use in vSphere PowerCLI
•  Use basic vSphere PowerCLI cmdlets
•  Describe features of the command pipeline
•  Examine vSphere PowerCLI objects
•  View vSphere PowerCLI object properties
•  Invoke vSphere PowerCLI object methods

5  vSphere PowerCLI Use Cases
•  Perform day-to-day management tasks
•  Manage clusters, hosts, and virtual machines
•  Display performance metrics

6  Advanced vSphere PowerCLI Concepts
•  Examine View objects with the Get-View cmdlet
•  Convert View objects to VIObjects
•  Invoke vSphere Web Services API methods

7  vRealize Orchestrator Overview
•  Describe the vRealize Orchestrator architecture and interfaces
•  Describe the components of a workflow

8  vRealize Orchestrator Basics  
•  Understand inputs, outputs, and variables in workflows
•  Describe variable types: string, number, and more
•  Create variables in workflows
•  Implement variable binding in workflows

9  Invoking Scheme Elements
•  Invoke JavaScript from workflows
•  Invoke a workflow from workflows
•  Invoke an action from workflows
•  Manage user workflow inputs on the input form
•  Invoke a user interaction element from workflows

10  Branching and Looping
•  Use decision elements in workflows
•  Use switch elements in workflows
•  Create decision loops in workflows
•  Use a for-each loop in workflows

11  vRealize Orchestrator Advanced
•  Handle exceptions in workflows
•  Perform logging in workflows
•  Debug workflows

12  vRealize Orchestrator Assets
•  Use configuration elements in workflows
•  Use resource elements in workflows
•  Create, import, and export vRealize Orchestrator packages

13  vRealize Orchestrator PowerShell Plug-In
•  Add PowerShell hosts to the vCenter Server inventory
•  Invoke scripts on PowerShell hosts
•  Create custom workflows using the PowerShell plug-in

14  Guest Operations with vRealize Orchestrator and vSphere PowerCLI
•  Understand the architecture of virtual machine guest operations
•  Identify the requirements for using guest operations
•  Perform guest operations with vRealize Orchestrator and vSphere PowerCLI

15  Leveraging vSphere Client Code Capture
•  Understand how to capture code in the vSphere Client
•  Use that code in a vRealize Orchestrator workflow or vSphere PowerCLI script