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vSphere: The Missing Links – Every vSphere Link You Need to Get Started

I have posted hundreds of vSphere links on this website but some of my categories have been empty because the official documentation, licensing and download links have not yet been published. Now that vSphere is officially released I can finally include those links on my link pages along with every vSphere link that you will need to get started with vSphere:

Upgrade:

VMware vSphere Upgrade Center
VMware vSphere: Got 64-bit hardware?
vSphere Pre-requisites Checklist
vSphere 4.0 Software Compatibility Matrix
vSphere Upgrade Center Blog
The Path to vSphere Unleashed Pt 1 – VMware VirtualCenter Management Components
The Path to vSphere Unleashed Pt 2 – VMware ESX Host Migration Methods
The Path to vSphere Unleashed Pt 3 – Virtual Machine Upgrades (VMware Tools and Virtual Hardware)
The Path to vSphere Unleashed Pt 4 – Implementing VMware vSphere Licensing
How to Upgrade from VMware Infrastructure 3 to VMware vSphere 4 (May 27th)
Upgrading to ESX 4.0 and vCenter 4.0 best practices (KB Article)
Upgrading an ESX 3.x virtual machine to ESX 4.0 (KB Article)
Upgrading ESXi 3.5 hosts with OEM server vendor’s specific components to ESXi 4.0 (KB Article)
How to create default alarms when upgrading to vSphere 4.0 (KB Article)
When you use VMware vSphere to perform an ESX host upgrade, the upgrade might fail (KB Article)
Sometimes the upgrade from ESXi 3.5 to ESXi 4.0 fails when the host is trying to reboot (KB Article)
Performing an offline upgrade from ESX 3.x to ESX 4.0 on a local ESX host (KB Article)

Install:

VMware ESX 4.0 installation video
Video: vSphere4 Unleashed: 01 – Installing ESX4
Installing VMware ESX 4 in Text Mode
ESX 4 Quick Install Guide
ESXi 4 Quick Install Guide
ESX3i to ESX4i Update

Documentation:

Great first read:

VMware vSphere 4 Evaluator’s Guide

Main and Documentation sets:

Main doc link
Download the complete ESXi 4.0 Embedded and vCenter Server 4.0 Documentation Set
Download the complete ESXi 4.0 Installable and vCenter Server 4.0 Documentation Set
Download the complete ESX 4.0 and vCenter Server 4.0 Documentation Set

Individual Docs:

Documentation Roadmap
What’s New in vSphere 4.0
Configuration Maximums for VMware vSphere 4.0
VMware vSphere Compatibility Matrixes
Introduction to VMware vSphere
Getting Started with ESX
ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide
Upgrade Guide
Basic System Administration
vSphere Web Access Administrator’s Guide
ESX Configuration Guide
Resource Management Guide
Availability Guide
Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide
iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide

ESXi:

Getting Started with ESXi Installable
Getting Started with ESXi Embedded
ESXi Installable and vCenter Server Setup Guide
ESXi Embedded and vCenter Server Setup Guide
ESXi Configuration Guide

Other:

Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service
vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Reference Guide
License Server Configuration for vCenter Server 4.0
ESX 4 Patch Management Guide
Guest Operating System Installation Guide

Update Manager:

vCenter Update Manager Release Notes
vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide
vCenter Update Manager Sizing Estimator

Converter:

vCenter Converter Release Notes
vCenter Converter Administration Guide

Orchestrator:

vCenter Orchestrator 4.0 Release Notes
vCenter Orchestrator Installation and Configuration Guide
vCenter Orchestrator Administration Guide
vCenter Orchestrator Developer’s Guide
vCenter Orchestrator Example Applications

Consolidated Backup:

Consolidated Backup Release Notes
Virtual Machine Backup Guide

Administration Automation:

vSphere Management Assistant Guide
vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) 4.0 Release Notes
vSphere Command-Line Interface manual
vSphere Command-Line Interface 4.0 Release Notes
vSphere SDK for Perl Installation Guide
vSphere SDK for Perl Programming Guide
vSphere SDK for Perl Release Notes
vSphere PowerCLI Installation Guide
vSphere PowerCLI Administration Guide
vSphere SDK for .NET Developer’s Guide
vSphere PowerCLI 4.0 Release Notes
vCenter Update Manager – PowerShell Library 1.0

vShield Zones:

vShield Zones 1.0 Release Notes
vShield Zones 1.0 FAQ
Introduction to vShield Zones
vShield Zones Quick Start Guide
vShield Zones Administration Guide

Data Recovery:

Data Recovery 1.0 Release Notes
Data Recovery Administration Guide

vCenter Server Heartbeat:

vCenter Server Heartbeat 5.5 Update 1 Release Notes
vCenter Server Heartbeat Quick Start
vCenter Server Heartbeat Reference Guide

Downloads:

Main Download Page
ESX 4.0 Download
ESXi 4.0 Download
vCenter Server 4.0 Download
Consolidated Backup 1.5 Update 1 Download
Data Recovery 1.0 Download
vShield Zones 1.0 Download
Cisco Nexus 1000v Virtual Ethernet Module 1.0 Download
vCenter Converter Standalone 4.0.1 Download
SiteSurvey 1.0 Windows Download
SiteSurvey 1.0 Linux Download
CPU Identification Utility Download

Licensing:

Main Licensing Page
vSphere Licensing Portal
VMware vSphere Licensing FAQs
VMware vSphere 4 Licensing Troubleshooting Guide
VMware vSphere Upgrade Center – Licensing
vSphere 4 Pricing, Packaging and Licensing Overview
vSphere Editions Comparison
vSphere Key Features & Benefits Summary
vSphere 4 Essentials Editions
Comparison of product offerings for vSphere 4.0 and VMware Infrastructure 3.X (KB Article)
vSphere – What’s New in Licensing
vSphere Upgrade Entitlement Mapping

Hardware Compatibility Guide:

Main Search Page
Systems Search Page
Storage/SAN Search Page
I/O Devices Search Page
Full Compatibility Guide

Release Notes:

VMware vSphere 4.0 Release Notes – ESX Edition
VMware vSphere 4.0 Release Notes – ESXi Edition

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