VCP recertification deadline extended, VCP6 discount for those who've already recertified

VMware have announced today that the original VCP recertification deadline of March 10th 2015 has now been extended til May 8th 2015.

This has been done for 2 reasons:

1. To allow extra time for partners and customers who have not had sufficient notification to be able to meet the deadline.
2. To reflect a problem with the myLearn system over the weekend that prevented people from gaining authorisation for the VCP550D exam.

This is great news if you haven't yet done your recertification.

The options to recertify have not changed - you can still take a VCP exam in another discipline, a VCAP exam in the same or another discipline, or if you're a VCP in the DCV discipline you can take the "delta" VCP550D exam - this special exam will also now remain available til May 8th.

But what about those who DID meet the original March 10th deadline? (Like me!)

Well there's some great news there too - you'll get 65% off a VCP6 exam from when they become available through to August 31st 2015!

If you want to find out more, check out this blog post on vmware.com:

Landing page for vSphere 4 certifications

vSphere 4 Certifications

VCP4
VCAP4-DCA
VCAP4-DCD
VCDX4

Recertification policy for VCP level certifications

Well here's a change in policy from VMware - those that hold VCP-level certifications will now have to recertify in order to retain their certification and all the related benefits.

Here's the official announcement on the new policy:

http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/plan.cfm?plan=46667&ui=www_cert

There are 2 milestones to watch out for:

- If you earned all your VCP level certifications prior to March 10th 2013 you have til March 10th 2015 to recertify
- If you earned your most recent VCP level certification since March 10th 2013 you have 2 years from the date you earned that certification to recertify

You can recertify in any of these ways:

- Pass the current exam for the VCP level certification in the same discipline
- Pass the current VCP level exam in another discipline
- Pass a current VCAP level exam in the same or another discipline

Note: there is no training requirement for recertification - this is a shift in policy as previously individuals would have to take a What's New class (in the case of DCV) or even a full class as part of updating their VCP certification to a new version once a grace period had passed

Today there are 3 disciplines that have VCP certifications - Data Center Virtualisation, Cloud, and Desktop - expect to see VCP for additional disciplines such as Networking Virtualisation added in the future.

If you do not recertify by the relevant milestone your certification will be revoked and you will no longer be entitled to use the certification logo or represent yourself as VMware certified. To regain certified status, you will need to meet all the prerequisites for the specific certification.

At this time there are no recertification policies for VCA, VCAP, or VCDX certifications - but I suspect that will change in the future so watch out for other announcements.

VCP - Common Questions

VMware have their own landing page and FAQ page for their certifications, but I get emails and have conversations with people all the time who ask me questions like the ones below - so I thought I'd share them with you here...

If I haven't answered your question below, you can always email me at vmtraining.blog@gmail.com

Can I self-study for a VCP?
No you cannot - VCPs have always had a training requirement for first-time achievers.

Once you achieve your first VCP, there is always an "upgrade" path to the VCP on the next major version, and for achieving VCPs in other solution areas - so long as you don't let your VCP expire.

How many different VCPs are there?
VMware have 4 different technology areas that have a solution-specific VCP certification: (core products in brackets)

DCV = Data Center Virtualisation (vSphere & vSAN)
DTM = Desktop & Mobility (Horizon with View)
CMA = Cloud Management & Automation (vRealize)
NV = Network Virtualisation (NSX)

Why do I have to pass 2 exams for a VCP certification?
Each solution-specific VCP requires that you pass 2 exams:

1. vSphere Foundations
2. VCP exam for that solution

vSphere Foundations is classed as a "core" exam for all 4 of the solution-specific VCPs - the same exam is listed as a requirement for each of those VCPs, and you only need to pass it once regardless of how many solution-specific VCPs you want to achieve.

Each solution-specific VCP then has it's own exam, titled the same as the VCP itself - each of which only includes questions on the products for that particular VCP.

Are there certifications for major versions only, or minor versions too?
VCP certifications relate to the major version only - so for all vSphere 6.x versions there is just a single certification, VCP6-DCV.

Are there exams for major versions only, or minor versions too?
VMware don't always release exams for every minor version, but significant minor versions do get their own exams - this is made clear in the exam titles and objectives.

Using vSphere 5.x as an example - the exam VCP510 was originally for vSphere 5.0, when vSphere 5.1 was released the VCP510 was updated to make it applicable to both 5.0/5.1, but the vSphere 5.5 release saw a VCP550 exam that was specific to that version.

The simple answer is - it's best to check the titles and objectives for an exam.

Can I mix minor versions of training and exams for the same certification?
Yes, absolutely! Using VCP6-DCV as an example - you could be trained on vSphere 6.0, pass the vSphere 6.0 version of the vSphere Foundations exam, but then pass the vSphere 6.5 version of the VCP6-DCV exam (due for release in April 2017).

So long as the major version matches for all of the requirements - you're good.

Do I have to do the training before the exam(s)?
No, it is not essential to take the training first, although it is recommended. You can also pass exams in the "wrong" order - so the VCP6-DCV exam before the vSphere Foundations exam, if you wish. You'll achieve the certification once you've completed all of the requirements.

How long can I leave between the training and the exam(s)?
Technically, you can leave as long a gap as you want - the only deadline is the future availability of the training and the exam for that major version.

For VCP6-DCV, as long as you can get trained on one of the qualifying vSphere classes (6.0 or 6.5) and the vSphere Foundations and VCP6-DCV exams are available for you to attempt, you can achieve the certification.

Does a VCP expire?
Yes - after 2 years from completion. VMware announced a recertification policy for VCP-level certifications on March 10th 2014.

If you want to stay VCP certified in the future, do not let your existing VCP expire - read this post to learn more.

Must I visit a testing centre each time I want to attempt a VCP exam?
Every VMware exam is classed as either "proctored" or "non-proctored" - you can check this status on the page for the specific exam you want to take.

"Non-proctored" exams, such as vSphere Foundations, can be taken from any location with internet access - but "proctored" exams must be taken at a Pearson VUE testing center.

Can I get a free re-take or any other discount?
Check this promotions page for any special offers.

VCP4 information and preparation

This post collects together a variety of VCP4-related posts from my blog since the launch of the exam back in 2009.

Core information
Studying for the VCP4 exam
Review of the VCP4 exam
Is the exam related to vSphere 4.0 or 4.1?
Gaining VCP4 and VCP5
Recertification policy

Preparation
Building a home lab
Exam preparation workshop
Training paths for VCP4
vSphere course suitability for VCP4 exam

Updating your certification
Is it worth doing vSphere 4 certifications?
Update your VCP4 to VCP5

New "upgrade" path announced for VCP3 holders to gain VCP5

VMware are announcing this week that there is now a third option available for a VCP3 holder to update their certification to VCP5, here's all three options:

1. Attend vSphere 4: What's New > pass VCP4 exam > pass VCP5 exam.
2. Attend vSphere 5: Install Configure Manage > pass VCP5 exam.
3. Attend vSphere 5: What's New > free vSphere 4: What's New e-learning (optional) > pass VCP5 exam.

I've updated this blog post to include the new path:
http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-does-vcp3-holder-update-to-vcp5.html

July 28th updates to exam blueprints

A number of VMware certification exam blueprints have been updated to new versions.

vSphere
VCP4 v1.9.2: http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10074
VCP5 beta v1.4: http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-16726

View
VCA4-DT v1.2: http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-16714
VCP4-DT v1.1: http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-16715

It looks like the changes in all the blueprints are minor, but as always it is advisable to use the latest blueprint available to help prepare you for the certification exams.

Blog posts related to vSphere 5 release

I've added NINE new posts to this blog related to the vSphere 5 release:

1. How does a VCP3 holder update to VCP5?
2. Is it worth doing vSphere 4 certifications?
3. New certification - VCP5
4. New vSphere 5 training courses
5. New vCloud Director 1.5 courses
6. New VMware official curriculum
7. Update your VCP4 to VCP5
8. Gaining VCP4 and VCP5

Feel free to email me if you have any questions: vmtraining.blog@gmail.com

Scott.

Is it worth doing vSphere 4 certifications?

Now VMware have launched vSphere 5, one of the big decisions that people have to make is whether to continue with the vSphere 4 certifications or wait for the equivalent vSphere 5 certifications to be released. I think it's a very individual choice, it depends on a number of things:

- Have you already started preparing, and if so how close are you to being ready for the exam?
- Do you think it's worth you having the vSphere 4 as well as the vSphere 5 certification?
- Have you already attended one of the vSphere 4 qualifying courses for VCP4?

The VCP5 certification has already been announced, there's more about that on my blog post here. The final exam will be available after August 29th 2011, that's only 6 weeks from now...

If you've attended a vSphere 4 course and are debating whether or not to take the VCP4 exam I'd probably suggest that you should - I would! Why? Well, at the time of writing vSphere 4 is the only version you can download and deploy, it will take time for customers to choose to deploy vSphere 5 or upgrade to vSphere 5, and one other bonus of getting VCP4 is that until February 29th 2012 VCP4 holders can also gain VCP5 certification by passing the VCP5 exam with no mandatory training required. If you choose today not to gain VCP4 you will have to attend a vSphere 5 course in order to qualify for VCP5 either before or after that February date.

If you've yet to train on vSphere 4 then you have a tougher decision to make as your decision is probably not just about what version you want to get your VCP on but also what version are you going to deploy/manage/support. vSphere 5 courses will be available within the coming weeks, more about those on this blog post.

Update your VCP4 to VCP5

Following the launch of vSphere 5 on July 12th, VMware have started to release information about how invididuals can update their certification to VCP5. If you're already a VCP4 holder, you can update your certification to VCP5 by passing the VCP5 exam once it becomes available.

Until February 29th 2012, VCP4 holders were not required to attend any vSphere 5 training course in order to qualify for updating their certification, but from March 1st 2012 attendance of the vSphere 5: What's New course is compulsory for those wanting to update their certification to VCP5.

VMware have already added a VCP5 page to their site, complete with the exam blueprint and mock exam, more about that on this blog post: New certification: VCP5

Gaining VCP4 and VCP5

VCP4 has essentially been the "industry standard" virtualisation certification since it was first released back in 2009, and there are thousands of individuals who already hold the certification. I train people all the time who want to gain VCP4, but now VMware have launched vSphere 5 it won't be too long til VCP5 certification becomes available.

If you've yet to train on vSphere 4 and want to gain both VCP4 and VCP5 certifications, here's the path that you need to follow:

Note that from March 1st 2012, attendance of the vSphere 5: What's New course is no longer optional for a VCP4 to achieve VCP5.

VMware have already added a number of VCP5-related resources to their site, more information on that can be found on this blog post: New certification: VCP5

What's a BrownBag? Find out this week!

There are only a couple of things in life that I would buy and expect the contents to be given to me wrapped in a brown paper bag, and lunch isn't one of them! However, over in the US the term Brown Bag (or "brown bag seminar" according to Wikipedia) is designed to be an hour-long seminar that can be consumed by attendees whilst they also consume their lunch!

Well-known blogger Cody Bunch started his VCP BrownBag series over a year ago, extended the coverage to incorporate VCDX, and now has an impressive list of guests and topics similar to the VMware Communities Podcast! The problem for us Europeans is that we have to stay up very late if we want to join Cody's BrownBags live, so Tom Howarth of PlanetVM fame has agreed to start a BrownBag series that will run during evening hours in the UK and Europe.

So, the first European BrownBag takes place this Thursday, July 7th, and it starts at 7pm UK time. Tom has kindly asked me to be a guest speaker/presenter on the session, and we plan on discussing the current state of play with VMware certifications and curriculum.

Register for the first European BrownBag here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/389446408

Building a vSphere home lab for VCP/VCAP-DCA preparation

From talking to many individuals who are wishing to achieve VMware certifications such as VCP or VCAP-DCA, most people have to prepare for exams in their own time. One of the important elements of both these exams, particularly the live-lab VCAP-DCA, is to use a vSphere environment to practice using the various administrative tools and interfaces in readiness for the exams.

Some people are lucky enough to have access to a lab environment at their workplace that they can "play" on, but many inviduals end up trying to build their own home lab. This can be done either be using a number of separate physical machines, or building a vSphere lab in virtual machines on products like VMware Player or Workstation, or even the free edition of ESXi.

Whether physical or virtual, generally there are four systems required:
2 x ESXi servers (ESX can be used instead)
1 x Windows server running vCenter Server, SQL Express, and the vSphere Client
1 x shared storage server running FreeNAS, OpenFiler, or similar

There are already many blog articles out there on how to build a virtual vSphere lab:
http://www.simple-talk.com/sysadmin/virtualization/vmware-lab-setup---a-virtualized-lab-for-testing-ha-and-drs/
http://vinf.net/2010/02/25/8-node-esxi-cluster-running-60-virtual-machines-all-running-from-a-single-500gbp-physical-server/
http://www.vmwarevideos.com/video-my-home-vmware-vsphere-lab
http://www.techhead.co.uk/tell-us-about-your-server-lab
http://www.vm-help.com/

Here's a very useful site that deals with the software/build process and offers a recommendation on hardware too:
http://www.labguides.com/autolab/

One of my students this week has just told me about an amazing deal for building a virtual home lab system, it's a HP ProLiant MicroServer on sale from EBuyer, with a £100 cashback offer - as of today the effective price you pay is only £137.99: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/253305

You will need to upgrade the RAM to 8GB in order to run the required virtual machines, but that's only going to cost an extra £64: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/229102

Of course, you might want to upgrade the hard disk to something like an SSD drive for better performance, but that's up to you - the 250GB built-in disk should easily be big enough to accomodate all your vSphere VMs.

Live-online VCP exam prep workshop - April 21st

The next Webex-based delivery of Global Knowledge's exclusive VCP4 Exam Preparation Workshop takes place on Thursday 21st April, starting at 9:30am BST (UK time). As per the online event run last month, I'm delivering the session myself.

Here are two other blog posts about the workshop:
http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com/2009/12/vcp4-exam-prep-workshop.html http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com/2011/01/vcp-exam-prep-workshop-new-method-new.html

Before anybody emails me and asks, we do charge for the workshop - it took a good amount of time to produce - I should know, I produced it - and obviously you have my experience with VMware certification exams that you can draw on during the session.

We already have a good number of registrations for the session next week, for more information on the session and to book your place, either email me or click here.

New Course - vSphere: Automation Fast Track

Until the end of 2010, one of the courses we offered to our customers was a vSphere: Fast Track - which combined together roughly 7 days of various vSphere 4.0 courses into a single extended-hour training course.

VMware updated the core vSphere: Install Configure Manage course for the 4.1 release and grew it out to 5 days at the same time, pulling in quite a lot of material that previously formed the old Fast Track.

I can now confirm that VMware plan to release a new Automation Fast Track course, which will run as a 5-day extended-hours course. This course will combine together all the material from the current Install Configure Manage course (5 days) with the Automation with vSphere PowerCLI course (2 days) - so 7 days worth of training in 5 days.

So what else can I tell you about this new course? Well some of the details are still emerging, but I can say that the course will include a voucher for the VCP4 exam. The release date has still not been confirmed, but I would expect it to be within the next couple of months, course pricing has also yet to be set.

Free Webinar on VMware Certifications and Career Paths

One my colleagues within Global Knowledge, Marcel Teeuwen, is hosting a free webinar on 1st March 2011, titled Is there life after VCP? VMware Certifications and Career Paths

Here's the URL with the details and a registration link:
http://www.globalknowledge.net/whats-new/events/is-there-life-after-vcp-webina.aspx

It should be a good session - if I'm free I'll join the session too.

Fancy a free re-take for your VCP exam?

If you've been reading my blog for a while, or have gone trawling back through any of my older posts, you'll know that Pearson Vue and VMware ran promotions in 2010 that gave students attending an official VMware course a 10% discount for the VCP exam - I've been in the Top 10 instructors worldwide for both of the previous promotions - I blogged about that recently here: http://vmwaretraining.blogspot.com/2011/01/vmware-instructor-rewards-2010.html

The new promotion has just launched today, and this time Pearson Vue and VMware have changed the incentive to offer a free re-take for the VCP exam, so however you pay for your VCP exam, whether it's by card or voucher, you will be included in the promotion and it really is a "no brainer" to use the code... You might as well, just in case you need it!

Attend an official VMware course with me and I'll give you my promotion code, apply the code to your booking for your first attempt at the exam, and if you need to book a re-take (on or before 8th July 2011) it will be free of charge - simple.

VCP Exam Prep Workshop - New method, new times!

Since December 2009, Global Knowledge have been running their own unique VCP Exam Preparation Workshop in the UK for the VCP on vSphere 4, I developed the workshop session myself with the aim of giving people the best chance they had of passing their VCP4 exam. I blogged about the workshop when we first launched it, click on the VCP Workshop tab across the top of the page and you'll be taken there - but don't go there just yet, read on...

Myself and my colleagues have delivered this session many times throughout 2010 and have helped dozens of people do themselves justice on the "big day" when taking their exam. Moving into 2011 we've decided to offer the workshop in new ways on top of the current classroom-based method:

Online delivery
We now offer the workshop as a live-online "virtual" event, so you can participate in the workshop wherever you are worldwide so long as you have a PC, a headset, and a modest internet connection.

Time of delivery
We're running a "virtual" event on Thursday 10th March Wednesday 16th March, this session starts at 5pm GMT - perfect if you're based in the UK or Europe and you need to attend "out of hours", and also if you're based somewhere like the US and you want to be able to participate in an event like this.

Feel free to email me directly if this might be of interest to you, blog readers from the UK should also note that the workshop also forms part of our VCP-related VMware bundles - special pricing for those attending official vSphere training with a view to gaining their VCP or VCAP certifications.

UPDATE: 28th Feb 2011
This session has now been re-arranged for Wednesday 16th March - it's not too late to get yourself booked on!

VMware Instructor Rewards 2010

Pearson Vue and VMware ran two separate Instructor Rewards programs in 2010, one in each half of the year, where all VCIs were issued with a special discount code that we could give out to students attending our official courses. Students would receive a 10% discount on the cost of their VMware exam, and we as instructors would earn rewards depending on the number of students using our code.

I blogged about this promotion before, here and here.

I'm glad to say that for the second time I was one of the instructors that had their code used the most, out of over 600 VCIs I came in 10th on the most recent promotion, and I've been rewarded with another polo shirt branded with both the VMware and Pearson Vue logos, as well as a free purchase to the value of $60 with free shipping from MindHub.

I decided to order the VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing the Virtual Environment book by Edward Haletky. Thanks to all the students who used my code, not only did you get yourself a 10% discount off your exam, but I got a polo shirt and a book for my troubles, a win for you and a win for me!

I know VMware have some more certification promotions planned for the first half of this year, I'll release all the details of those when I can - watch this space...

Certification Updates - September 16th 2010

Lots of small pieces of certification news to cover in this post:

VCAP4-DCA exam
Registration is now open as of September 13th, as I revealed recently - register here
I registered on Monday, and have already had a follow-up email from the Certification team
VMware have published a list of the testing centres where the VCAP4-DCA exam can be taken - here's the list

VCP4 study sites
Forbes Guthrie has updated his excellent vSphere reference card for the 4.1 release - download it from here
Simon Long has been updating his VCP4 study notes and practice questions for 4.1, the study notes are work in progress but then he has just started a job at VMware so I'll let him off - access The SLOG

VCP4 exam prep workshop
I've now completed an overhaul of the unique VCP4 exam prep workshop that Global Knowledge run in the UK, mainly by updating and enhancing the practice questions we go through on the day - click here for details on the workshop

VCP4 books
There are now a number of VCP4 study books on the market, I'm hoping to be able to review each of them here soon:
VMware Certified Professional vSphere 4 Study Guide by Robert Schmidt
VMware Certified Professional on vSphere 4 Study Guide by Brian Perry, Chris Huss, Jeantet Fields
VCP4 Exam Cram by Elias Khnaser

Phew, lots of new things to take a look at there!