Virtual Musings

Back in November 2024 I sat (and passed) the VCP – VMware Cloud Foundation exam that was released back in August of 2024. Thanks to the VMUG Advantage Program I was able to get a 50% off voucher to take another exam, and decided to use that to sit the VCP – VMware vSphere Foundation exam. While some my consider this a lower level exam than the VCP-VCF certification, as part of my role is to help train others in my organization on VMware I wanted to see if the VCP-VVF exam was one I would recommend over VCP-VCF as people new to VMware start their journey.

To begin, the exam guide is at https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/vmware-vsf-specialist-2V0-1224-exam-preparation-guide, and you do need to read and make sure you understand how to do all of the tasks that are listed in Section 4. And by do – you need to be prepared to be able to determine the steps that need to be taken to install and configure that particular service. For those that have not taken a VMware exam recently, the format has evolved and you will likely see less multiple choice questions and more questions along the line of “list the steps on how to configure XYZ” service. So if you’ve never actually setup that particular service or at least walked through the flow you will struggle on this exam.

It’s also important to note that the exam guide states there are no questions on architecture (section 1) nor questions on plan and design (section 3). This absolutely held true for my personal exam. This is a “do” exam asking either how you implement a feature in VVF or what features you would need to enable to satisfy a particular scenario. No theory – this is all about the product and how to use it.

Now – the recommendation on the certification page states you should attend or review the VMware Cloud Foundation: Deploy, Manage, Configure class and here I would disagree a bit. The content covered in the exam aligns much closer to the VMware vSphere – Install, Configure, and Manage and the VMware vSphere – Optimize and Scale courses. There are topics on the VCP-VVF exam that 100% I did not see at all on the VCP-VCF exam, but I know are covered in the vSphere courses.

That being said – VMware vSphere Foundation is a new offering that includes Tanzu as well as the Aria Suite. This is where the VCP: Deploy, Manage, Configure course would come in, or at least basic knowledge of those products and what functions they serve in a VVF deployment.

As mentioned earlier, this exam is all about ‘doing’. Think about this exam as if you were getting tickets requesting certain features being enabled in VVF, or the steps you would take to troubleshoot an issue. Where would you go to start configuration? What steps would you take to troubleshoot say network connectivity issues with a virtual machine? These are the types of questions you may see. VMware Hands-on Labs is your friend here. Remember you don’t need to follow the lab, you can launch an environment and walk through say, implementing a port group without having any need for an environment or worry about breaking anything important.

Overall emphasize practice in your study. Take the exam guide and the hands-on labs and walk through each of the item and how do you actually perform that task.

I think the last question would be if a candidate should take this exam or take the VCP-DCV exam for vSphere 8. Personally I’d recommend this exam. The content is current, it includes products that if you have chosen to get VVF licenses you will want to implement to drive more value out of your purchase, and it shows you know more than just the basic vSphere products.

In conclusion passing this exam makes me feel comfortable that although I do not get as much hands-on time with the products as I used to I still have a wide bank of knowledge to draw on. I was happy to pass and wish you best of luck on your journey.