Security has become a critical part of any implementation, also for the virtual environment. In addition to the security and hardening aspects of vSphere, the new 6.5 version introduces some important new features related to this aspect, such as audit-quality logging of vSphere events, VM encryption, encrypted vMotion, secure boot support for VMs, and secure boot plus Cryptographic Hypervisor Assurance for ESXi.

In this chapter, we have explained some security topics, such as security and hardening concepts in vSphere, new security options in vSphere 6.5, and how to design for security.

In the next chapter we will discuss other administrator tasks, somehow related also with security aspects; how to patch and manage the lifecycle of the different infrastructural components of a vSphere environment.