In this chapter, the importance of securing a vSphere environment was discussed. Also covered was how to secure ESXi, vCenter Server, and virtual machines. Virtual machines should typically be secured just like a physical server, and anything unused can be disabled. ESXi has a built-in firewall that can be modified, as well as a lockdown mode that can be enabled. vSphere permissions can be used to limit access to the infrastructure by creating custom roles and only applying permissions where needed. Single Sign-On provides an authentication framework for vSphere by creating its own security domain.

The next chapter will discuss vSphere life cycle management, covering the upgrade of vSphere components from vSphere 5.x to vSphere 6.