VCP Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield VCP facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. When you convert a running virtual machine to a template in vSphere, what is the result? → The VM is powered off, converted, and can no longer be powered on directly as a VM
2. Which vSphere component is responsible for abstracting physical network resources and providing logical switching capabilities for virtual machines? → vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS)
3. What does professional competency require of a VCP practitioner? → Maintaining current knowledge through continuing education within qualified areas
4. In vSphere 7, which component is responsible for authenticating users to vCenter Server? → vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO)
5. In vRealize Operations, which metric type represents the highest observed value within a collection interval? → Maximum
6. Why is documentation critical in VCP regulatory compliance? → It provides evidence of compliance and creates a defensible record of activities
7. What is the purpose of a risk matrix in VCP practice? → To evaluate risks by plotting likelihood against severity of potential impact
8. What vSphere feature helps to ensure that a shared datastore doesn't have just one virtual machine using up all the resources? → vSphere Storage I/O Control (SIOC)
9. A vSphere administrator observes that network 'dropped packets' metric is increasing for a VM. What is the most likely cause? → The network buffer is overwhelmed and packets are being discarded
10. Which vSphere 7 feature allows live migration of VMs between vCenter Server instances without shared storage? → Cross-vCenter vMotion
11. Which vSphere alarm condition should an administrator configure to trigger when a datastore's free space drops below a specific threshold? → Datastore usage on disk metric
12. Which vSphere 7 feature allows a VM to span multiple physical hosts for computing resources? → vSphere DRS
13. What is the purpose of a communication plan in VCP project management? → To define what information is shared, with whom, when, and through which channels
14. What is multi-factor authentication (MFA) in VCP security? → A security method requiring two or more verification factors to gain access
15. Which cluster characteristic makes sure that the virtual machines in a cluster have access to the computational resources they need? → Distributed Resource Scheduler
16. What does data integrity mean in VCP practice? → The accuracy, consistency, and reliability of data throughout its entire lifecycle
17. In vSphere performance monitoring, the 'Usage' metric for a CPU represents which calculation? → The ratio of used MHz to total host MHz averaged across collection intervals
18. Consolidation ratios can be raised with the aid of DRS and vMotion. → True
19. Which multipathing policy in vSphere sends I/O down a single active path and only switches to another if that path fails? → Most Recently Used (MRU)
20. In order to configure vCenter Server High Availability using the vSphere Client, which two actions would an administrator take? → Indicate that the Passive and Witness nodes have been manually created.
21. What is change management in VCP technology operations? → A structured process for evaluating, approving, and implementing changes to minimize risk
22. What is the function of Storage vMotion in vSphere? → It live-migrates VM disk files from one datastore to another while the VM runs
23. What is the purpose of data analysis in VCP practice? → To transform raw data into meaningful insights that support informed decision-making
24. What file extension is used for VMware virtual disk files in vSphere? → .vmdk
25. Which vSphere storage policy feature ensures VM data is distributed across multiple storage arrays? → Storage DRS
26. In vSphere DRS, what does an 'aggressive' migration threshold mean? → DRS will apply even small performance improvements by migrating VMs frequently
27. Why is written communication important in VCP practice? → It creates a permanent record, ensures clarity, and provides reference for future actions
28. What is a root cause analysis in VCP quality assurance? → A systematic investigation to identify the fundamental underlying cause of a problem
29. What is a near-miss report in VCP safety management? → Documentation of an event that could have resulted in harm but did not
30. An administrator notices high disk 'aborted commands' in vSphere performance charts. What does this metric primarily indicate? → Storage I/O commands were terminated before completion, often due to path failures