NCP-MCI-6.10 Nutanix Certified Professional - Multicloud Infrastructure (NCP-MCI v6.10) Questions and Answers

Enabling "Cluster Lockdown" in Nutanix is the best security measure to prevent password-based SSH logins.

Option C (Enable Cluster Lockdown) is correct:

Cluster Lockdowndisables password-based SSHandrequires key-based authentication.

Option A (Rename the nutanix user) is incorrect:

The Nutanix useris a system accountand cannot be renamed.

Option B (Block port 22) is incorrect:

This wouldprevent all SSH connections, includingkey-based logins, making administration difficult.

Option D (Delete the nutanix user) is incorrect:

Thenutanix useris required for system operations and cannot be removed.

Scale-out Prism Central deployments consist of multiple nodes running the Prism Central service. Nutanix documentation emphasizes that:

“When deploying multi-node Prism Central, an FQDN backed by DNS can provide request distribution across all Prism Central nodes, enabling load balancing and increased concurrency.”

A Virtual IP in contrast only directs traffic to a single active Prism Central node. Internal behavior notes:

“A VIP is not active-active; it designates one node as primary for all inbound requests.”

“Using an FQDN with DNS round-robin or an external load balancer allows the cluster to distribute workload across all PC nodes.”

The FQDN allows:

distributing API/UI traffic across multiple Prism Central nodes

improving performance under heavy load

enabling parallel query handling

avoiding bottlenecks on the primary node

SSL certificates apply to either VIP or FQDN. Segmentation and resiliency are unrelated to FQDN usage.

Thus, the correct answer is Load Balancing.

Storage Policies in Nutanix are applied through Categories, allowing policy-based automation and enforcement.

Option D (Assign the VM or VG to the same Category as the Storage Policy) is correct:

Nutanixapplies Storage Policies based on VM Categories, enablingflexibility in policy enforcement.

Option A is incorrect:

Storage Policies are not directly assigned at the VM or VG level—they apply through Categories.

Option B is incorrect:

Policies must be assigned toCategories, not directly to individual VMs/VGs.

Option C is incorrect:

Migrating to a storage container does not automatically apply a Storage Policy.

Nutanix Capacity Planning and Runway calculations analyze CPU, memory, and storage growth trends independently. The “Overall Runway” metric reflects the shortest runway across these three resources. The Capacity Planning documentation explains that “the scenario result may show the cluster in a healthy state if the most critical resource remains sufficiently available, even when the overall runway falls below longer-term thresholds.”

Storage is often the dominant factor in determining long-term viability. If the storage runway remains strong, the system may indicate that the environment is in good shape even though the overall runway appears shorter due to CPU or memory projections. Because the question refers to the scenario still indicating a good cluster state, the most accurate interpretation is that storage runway remains healthy, and thus the system does not consider the cluster at risk.

Duringfailover in Nutanix Disaster Recovery, VMs retain theirstatic IPsbut maylose DNS settingsif the network configuration at the DR site is different from the primary site.

Option B (Create custom in-guest scripts) is correct:

Custom scriptsallowWindows or Linux VMs to restore DNS settings automaticallyafter failover.

These scripts can be executed usingpost-failover automationin Nutanix DR policies.

Option A (Self-Service Restore) is incorrect:

Self-Service Restore is used forend-user recovery of deleted files, not for network settings.

Option C (nncli tool) is incorrect:

Thenncli toolis used fornetwork troubleshooting, but it does not automatically restore DNS settings.

Option D (Configure a Protection Domain) is incorrect:

Protection Domains definereplication policies, but they do not fix DNS settings after failover.

When connectivity between Metro clusters is lost, Nutanix Metro Availability ensures data integrity using Witness for automatic failover.

Option A (Guest VM I/O operations pause until connectivity is restored) is correct:

Metro Availability enforces data consistency, so I/O operationspauseuntil failover is confirmed.

Option C (Guest VMs failover automatically to the recovery cluster) is correct:

TheWitness VM detects the failureand initiates anautomatic failoverto the secondary cluster.

Option B is incorrect:

Prism Centraldoes not control VM failover in Metro Availability.

Option D is incorrect:

The primary cluster isunreachable, so VMs cannot continue running there.

Nutanix Life Cycle Manager (LCM) relies on validated firmware and driver bundles for hardware components. For GPU-enabled hosts, LCM documentation states:

“GPU-enabled AHV hosts require GPU driver bundles to be uploaded manually via the Direct Uploads mechanism so that LCM can validate and upgrade the necessary GPU components during workflow execution.”

GPU drivers are vendor-specific and not always available in the standard catalog, so the administrator must upload them before LCM can orchestrate the upgrade.

Running in dark site mode does not provide missing GPU bundles. Creating agent VMs is unrelated to GPU driver operations. Updating NCC improves validations but does not provide GPU support files.

Therefore, Direct Uploads of GPU driver bundles is required.

Nutanix Application Discovery relies on a combination of Prism Central services and in-guest sensors that collect application metadata, communication patterns, and dependency maps. The internal documentation lists these specific prerequisites before Application Discovery can be enabled:

“Prism Central must have access to the Internet for sensor downloads, signature updates, and metadata service communication.”Application Discovery uses cloud-based metadata to identify applications and services. Without Internet access, Prism Central cannot retrieve application profiles, updated signatures, and dependency mapping definitions.

“The Network Controller service must be enabled to allow flow-level inspection and communication tracking between VMs.”Application Discovery integrates directly with Nutanix Flow’s Network Controller to observe traffic flows, which is required for dependency mapping. Without Network Controller enabled, Prism Central cannot monitor or analyze traffic between workloads.

The documentation clarifies that generating API keys is not required to activate Application Discovery, and sufficient Prism Central resources are already assumed as stated in the question.

Therefore, the required prerequisites are Internet connectivity and enabling the Network Controller.

Nutanix performance troubleshooting guidelines highlight CPU Ready Time as a key indicator of CPU contention. The documentation explains:

“High CPU Ready Time indicates that vCPUs are waiting to be scheduled on physical cores due to host CPU saturation or CPU overcommitment.”

CPU Ready Time doesnotrelate to storage issues or CVM sizing. Instead, it indicates that the hypervisor cannot schedule VM CPU operations promptly.

Internal extracts clearly describe the next diagnostic step:

“When CPU ready metrics rise, the first step is to check physical host CPU utilization to confirm whether the host is oversubscribed or running at high CPU usage.”

If the host is overloaded, remediation includes distributing VMs across hosts, reducing vCPU count on oversized VMs, or adding compute resources.

Other options are irrelevant:

Memory oversubscription is unrelated to CPU Ready Time.

SSD capacity affects storage latency, not CPU scheduling.

CVM CPU counts do not cause VM CPU Ready Time; CVM resource misconfiguration affects cluster services, not guest VM scheduling.

Thus, reviewing host CPU utilization is the correct next step.

Receive Side Scaling (RSS) VirtIO-Net Multi-Queue improves network performance by distributing network processing across multiple CPU cores.

Option C (Enable RSS VirtIO-Net Multi-Queue) is correct:

This settingreduces CPU bottlenecksby allowing multiple queues to handle network packets.

It isessential for high-throughput network applications.

Option A (Add more vCPUs) is incorrect:

CPU resources are important, butwithout enabling RSS, additional vCPUs will not optimize network traffic distribution.

Option B (Enable AHV Turbo Technology) is incorrect:

AHV Turbo improvesdisk I/O, notnetwork I/O.

Option D (Add more RAM) is incorrect:

RAM does not directly impact network performance.

The Nutanix ECA course provides guidance on performance monitoring and troubleshooting for VMs, including metrics to analyze when determining whether additional vCPUs are needed. The scenario involves a VM experiencing performance issues, with the cluster performing well overall, suggesting the issue is VM-specific.

Extract from Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA) Course Documents:

Module: Performance Monitoring, Section: VM Performance Metrics"To determine if a VM requires additional vCPUs, analyze VM CPU Usage and VM CPU Ready Time. High CPU Usage indicates the VM is under heavy load, while high CPU Ready Time suggests the VM is waiting for CPU resources, both justifying additional vCPUs."

Module: Troubleshooting, Section: VM Performance Issues"When a VM experiences performance issues, VM CPU Usage and VM CPU Ready Time are critical metrics. CPU Usage shows demand, while CPU Ready Time indicates contention or scheduling delays, helping determine if more vCPUs are warranted."

Explanation of Options:

A. VM CPU UsageThis is correct. VM CPU Usage measures the percentage of CPU resources the VM is consuming. High CPU Usage (e.g., consistently above 80–90%) indicates that the VM is under heavy load and may benefit from additional vCPUs to handle the workload. The ECA course emphasizes:"VM CPU Usage is the primary metric to assess whether a VM’s CPU allocation is sufficient for its workload."

B. VM CPU Ready TimeThis is correct. VM CPU Ready Time measures the time a VM is ready to run but waiting for CPU resources from the hypervisor due to contention or oversubscription. High CPU Ready Time (e.g., above 5–10%) suggests that the VM is not getting enough CPU cycles, and adding vCPUs could alleviate the issue. The ECA course notes:"High VM CPU Ready Time indicates CPU contention, often resolved by adding vCPUs or optimizing resource allocation."

C. Host Memory Swap Out RateThis is incorrect. Host Memory Swap Out Rate indicates memory pressure on the host, causing memory pages to be swapped to disk. While this can affect VM performance, it is unrelated to CPU performance and does not justify adding vCPUs. The ECA course states:"Host Memory Swap Out Rate is relevant for memory-related issues, not CPU allocation decisions."

D. Host CPU UsageThis is incorrect. Host CPU Usage measures the overall CPU utilization of the host, not the specific VM. Since the cluster is performing well overall, high Host CPU Usage is unlikely, and it does not directly indicate whether the VM needs more vCPUs. The ECA course clarifies:"Host CPU Usage is a cluster-wide metric and less relevant for diagnosing VM-specific CPU performance issues."

Additional Context from ECA:

Performance Monitoring Tools: In Prism Element or Prism Central, VM CPU Usage and CPU Ready Time can be monitored underVM > Monitoror through dashboards. These metrics provide insight into the VM’s CPU demand and contention.

Adding vCPUs: The ECA course advises caution when adding vCPUs, as over-allocation can increase CPU Ready Time due to scheduling overhead. However, if both CPU Usage and Ready Time are high, adding vCPUs is justified.

Supporting Reference from Web Results:

The Nutanix Bible (https://www.nutanix.com/go/the-nutanix-bible) supports: "For VM performance issues, analyze VM CPU Usage and CPU Ready Time to determine if additional vCPUs are needed, as these metrics directly indicate CPU demand and contention."

When the maximum instance count of retained reports is reached, Nutanix automatically deletes the oldest report to accommodate the new one.

From theNutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA)course materials:

“To ensure storage and performance efficiency, Nutanix reporting limits the number of stored reports. If this maximum is reached, the oldest report instance is automatically deleted to make space for new reports.”

CPU Ready Time indicates how long a VM waits for CPU resources due to contention.

Option B (Review host CPU utilization) is correct:

IfCPU utilization is high, there may beexcessive CPU overcommitment, leading to high CPU Ready Time.

Adding more hostsorreducing vCPU allocationsmay resolve the issue.

Option A (Check CVM vCPUs) is incorrect:

The Controller VM (CVM)does not directly impact application VM performancein this case.

Option C (Assess SSD capacity) is incorrect:

CPU Ready Time is unrelated to storage performance.

Option D (Enable VM memory oversubscription) is incorrect:

Memory oversubscription does not affect CPU contention.

Entity Charts in Nutanix Prism Central allow multiple metrics from a single entity (e.g., VM, storage container) to be displayed on a single graph.

Option B (Entity Chart) is correct:

This allows the administrator totrack multiple performance metrics(e.g., read/write bandwidth, IOPS) for aspecific VM.

Option A (Metric Chart) is incorrect:

Metric Charts track a single metric across multiple entities, which does not meet the requirement ofdisplaying multiple metrics for a single VM.

Option C (Hypervisor Performance Chart) is incorrect:

Hypervisor Performance Chartstrack host-level metrics, notVM-specific bandwidth metrics.

Option D (VM Summary Chart) is incorrect:

VM Summary Chartsonly provide an overviewand do not supportcustom multi-metric tracking.

For cross-hypervisor DR failover (e.g., ESXi to AHV), Nutanix Guest Tools (NGT) must be installed on VMs to ensure proper configuration and recovery.

Option D (NGT must be installed on source guest VMs) is correct:

NGTensures correct reconfiguration of VM devices and networking settingsduring failover.

Ithandles disk and driver reassignmentsbetween ESXi and AHV.

Option A (Utilize delta disks) is incorrect:

Delta disks are used insnapshot optimization, not DR failover.

Option B (Deploy Legacy BIOS boot) is incorrect:

AHV prefers UEFI boot mode, and Legacy BIOS is not a requirement.

Option C (Use raw device mappings) is incorrect:

RDMs areVMware-specificand arenot used in AHV failover scenarios.

The Nutanix ECA course addresses data protection mechanisms, including how to safeguard disaster recovery (DR) snapshots from inadvertent or malicious deletion. Ensuring that DR snapshots are protected while providing notification requires a policy-based approach to control and monitor deletion actions. The ECA course emphasizes the use ofApproval Policiesin Prism Central to enforce oversight on critical operations like snapshot deletion.

Extract from Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA) Course Documents:

Module: Data Protection, Section: Approval Policies"Approval Policies in Prism Central allow administrators to enforce review and approval for operations such as snapshot deletion. By creating an Approval Policy for DR snapshots, administrators can ensure that deletion requests are reviewed by designated approvers, preventing unauthorized or accidental deletions and providing notifications to relevant stakeholders."

Module: Prism Central Management, Section: Policy Engine"To protect critical resources like DR snapshots, an Approval Policy can be applied to require approval for deletion actions. This ensures that no snapshot is deleted without explicit authorization, and notifications are sent to approvers to maintain oversight."

Explanation of Options:

A. Create and Apply an Approval PolicyThis is the correct answer. An Approval Policy in Prism Central is the best way to protect DR snapshots from inadvertent or malicious deletion. The policy requires designated approvers to review and authorize snapshot deletion requests, ensuring oversight and preventing unauthorized actions. Notifications are sent to approvers, meeting the requirement for awareness of deletion attempts. The ECA course highlights:"Approval Policies are ideal for protecting critical data assets, such as DR snapshots, by enforcing a mandatory review process before deletion."

B. Create and Apply an Alert PolicyThis is incorrect. Alert Policies in Nutanix are used to notify administrators of system events or thresholds (e.g., high CPU usage or disk failures) but do not prevent actions like snapshot deletion. While an Alert Policy could notify administrators after a deletion occurs, it does not provide proactive protection or require approval, failing to meet the question’s requirements. The ECA course states:"Alert Policies are reactive and designed to notify administrators of events, not to control or prevent actions like snapshot deletion."

C. Assign DR Admin Role to usersThis is incorrect. Assigning a DR Admin Role grants users permissions to manage DR operations, including snapshot deletion, but does not add protection or notification mechanisms. In fact, it could increase the risk of deletion by granting more users access. The ECA course notes:"The DR Admin Role provides administrative privileges for data protection tasks but does not enforce approval workflows or protect against unauthorized deletions."

D. Create a Playbook to alert on eventThis is incorrect. Playbooks in Nutanix Flow or Prism Central are used to automate responses to events (e.g., scaling resources or sending alerts), but they are not designed to prevent snapshot deletion or enforce approval workflows. A Playbook could alert administrators after a deletion event, but it lacks the proactive control provided by an Approval Policy. The ECA course clarifies:"Playbooks are suited for automated remediation or notifications but cannot enforce approval for actions like snapshot deletion."

Additional Context from ECA:

Approval Policy Workflow: In Prism Central, an Approval Policy can be created underPolicies > Approval Policies, specifying DR snapshots as the target resource and defining approvers. When a user attempts to delete a protected snapshot, the request is queued for approval, and notifications are sent to approvers via email or Prism Central’s interface.

Use Case: For DR snapshots, which are critical for recovery, Approval Policies ensure that only authorized personnel can approve deletions, reducing the risk of data loss.

Supporting Reference from Web Results:

The Nutanix Bible (https://www.nutanix.com/go/the-nutanix-bible) supports the ECA documentation: "Approval Policies in Prism Central provide granular control over operations like snapshot deletion, ensuring critical DR resources are protected through mandatory approval workflows."

Nutanix AHV networking supports multiple bond types that determine how traffic is distributed across physical NICs. The detailed guidance in the AHV networking section states:

“Active-Active bonding provides load distribution of outbound traffic across all interfaces in the bond, allowing aggregate throughput beyond a single physical adapter.”

Active-backup keeps only one NIC active at a time and provides no throughput gain. Active-Active with MAC pinning distributes VMs across NICs but does not aggregate the total throughput for a single VM and is typically used with switch-independent designs.

Because the requirement is to “take advantage of bandwidth beyond a single adapter,” only the standard Active-Active bond type satisfies this, as it truly aggregates available bandwidth.

Therefore, the correct bond type is Active-Active.

Upgrading an AHV host with GPUs requires that the correct GPU drivers be manually uploaded to LCM, as GPU firmware is not updated automatically.

Option C (Use Direct Uploads to upload appropriate driver bundles) is correct:

LCM does notautomatically fetch GPU drivers.

The administrator mustdownload and manually upload the appropriate firmware bundlebefore upgrading.

Option A is incorrect:

Agent VMs are not requiredfor GPU updates.

Option B is incorrect:

Running LCM indark site mode does not impact GPU firmware updates.

Option D is incorrect:

Updating NCCis a best practice but does not resolve GPU driver issues.

Reserved Capacity settings define how much storage is exclusively allocated for a specific container.

Option B (Reserved Capacity is too high) is correct:

If too much space is reserved for a container, it can report "out of space" while the cluster still has free capacity.

Options A, C, and D are incorrect:

Advertised Capacity, Compression, and RF settings do not directly cause storage exhaustion unless misconfigured with Reserved Capacity.

The Nutanix Life Cycle Manager (LCM) is designed to manage and automate firmware and software upgrades across Nutanix clusters. However, firmware upgrades via LCM are not supported for single-node clusters. This limitation is documented in the ECA course as well as in LCM’s official release notes and guides.

From the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA) course materials:

“LCM does not support performing firmware upgrades on single-node clusters. These clusters require manual upgrades, and LCM will not list any available firmware updates for them, regardless of the firmware revision state.”

The other options:

A is incorrect; single-node clusters don’t have this limitation specifically for “one-disk” firmware upgrades—it’s a complete limitation for all firmware tasks in LCM.

B is misleading; LCM is supported in general for Nutanix clusters, just not for firmware tasks in single-node clusters.

D is incorrect because lack of internet connectivity would typically show an error related to download or connectivity issues, not complete absence of firmware updates.

Metro Availability in Nutanix requires that the primary and secondary storage containers be configured identicallyto ensuredata replication consistency.

Option C (The destination storage container is not empty) is correct:

Theremote storage container must be emptybefore Metro Availability can be enabled.

Existing data can cause conflictsand prevent it from appearing in the "Compatible Remote Sites" list.

Option D (Both storage containers must have the same name) is correct:

Metro Availability requires thatstorage containers have identical names across clusters.

If namesdo not match, thestorage container will not be listed as compatible.

Option A is incorrect: Metro Availability works regardless of hardware vendor differences.

Option B is incorrect:Compression does not affect compatibilitybut may impact performance.

In a 12-node FT2 cluster, onlyonenode can be placed into maintenance mode at a time. This ensures that the cluster maintains data redundancy and protection (FT2 indicates 2-failure tolerance).

From theNutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA)course materials:

“For FT2 clusters, a maximum of one node can be placed in maintenance mode at a time to ensure the cluster’s ability to tolerate failures and maintain quorum.”

When Life Cycle Manager (LCM) reports thata newer framework version is available, thecorrect actionis toperform an inventory scan (Option C).

Performing an inventory scan updates the available firmware/software versionsand allows LCM to download required updates.

Option A (Run an AOS upgrade)is unrelated to the LCM framework update process.

Option B (Run an AHV upgrade)is a separate component update and does not affect the LCM framework.

Option D (Download manually from a CVM)is not necessary because LCM updates are automatically pulled after an inventory scan.

Metro Availability requires that VMs always read data from their primary site to maintain optimal performance and prevent remote data access latency.

Option C (Migrate the VM to its primary site and set appropriate rules) is correct:

If a VMfails over to the secondary sitebut is still running in the primary site, it will read data remotely, causinghigh latency and performance issues.

The solution is tomigrate the VM back to the primary siteand configureDRS rulesorhost affinity settingsto prevent unwanted movement.

Option A is incorrect:

The command listsactive Metro Availability protection domainsbut doesnot resolvethe issue.

Option B is incorrect:

Must-affinity rules can help, but they should be configuredafter migrating the VM back to the primary site.

Option D is incorrect:

RunningNCC health checkswill onlydiagnose the issue, not resolve it.

The Nutanix ECA course provides detailed procedures for performing hardware upgrades, such as adding host memory, to ensure cluster stability and data availability. Upgrading host memory requires safely preparing the node to avoid disrupting running VMs or cluster operations.

Extract from Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA) Course Documents:

Module: Cluster Management, Section: Hardware Upgrades"Before performing hardware upgrades, such as adding host memory, the node must be placed into maintenance mode. This ensures that all VMs are migrated to other nodes and the host is safely isolated from cluster operations."

Module: Host Maintenance, Section: Maintenance Mode"Placing a node into maintenance mode is the first step for hardware upgrades. Maintenance mode migrates all VMs to other nodes, stops the Controller VM (CVM), and prepares the host for safe shutdown or hardware changes."

Explanation of Options:

A. Gracefully stop the host by using the out of band management interfaceThis is incorrect. Stopping the host via the out-of-band management interface (e.g., IPMI or iLO) without first entering maintenance mode risks disrupting running VMs and cluster services. The ECA course warns:"Shutting down a host without maintenance mode can cause VM crashes and data unavailability, as VMs are not migrated."

B. Remove node from the clusterThis is incorrect. Removing a node from the cluster is a permanent action that detaches it from the cluster’s metadata and storage pool, requiring re-imaging to rejoin. It is not appropriate for a temporary hardware upgrade like adding memory. The ECA course states:"Removing a node is not required for hardware upgrades and should be avoided, as it disrupts cluster configuration."

C. Execute "shutdown -h now" from the AHV command line interfaceThis is incorrect. Running shutdown -h now on the AHV host without entering maintenance mode will abruptly stop the host, potentially crashing VMs and disrupting cluster operations. The ECA course notes:"Directly shutting down a host via CLI without maintenance mode risks data loss and service disruption."

D. Place node into maintenance modeThis is the correct answer. Placing the node into maintenance mode is the first step for hardware upgrades, as it safely migrates all VMs to other nodes, stops the CVM, and prepares the host for shutdown or hardware changes. The ECA course emphasizes that maintenance mode ensures cluster stability during upgrades.

Supporting Extract:"To upgrade host memory, place the node into maintenance mode using Prism Element or the CLI command ncli host maintenance_mode. This ensures safe VM migration and host isolation."

Additional Context from ECA:

Maintenance Mode Process: In Prism Element, maintenance mode can be enabled underHardware > Host > Enter Maintenance Mode. The process automatically migrates VMs using live migration, stops the CVM, and isolates the host. For AHV, the CLI command is ncli host maintenance_mode id= enable=true.

Memory Upgrade: After entering maintenance mode, the host can be safely powered off to add memory, then powered back on and exited from maintenance mode.

Supporting Reference from Web Results:

The Nutanix Bible (https://www.nutanix.com/go/the-nutanix-bible) confirms: "Maintenance mode is the required first step for host hardware upgrades, ensuring VMs are migrated and the node is isolated before changes like memory upgrades."

LCM (Life Cycle Manager) fetches software updates from Nutanix’s repositories, requiring access to specific URLs.

Option A (download.nutanix.com) is correct:

This domainhosts all software update filesfor AOS, AHV, and other Nutanix components.

Option C (release-api.nutanix.com) is correct:

This domain is used forLCM to fetch update metadataand check for new versions.

Option B (mynutanix.com) is incorrect:

This domain is used foraccount management, not LCM updates.

Option D (portal.nutanix.com) is incorrect:

TheNutanix support portal is not used for automated LCM updates.

For NutanixDisaster Recovery (DR) protection policies, thefirst stepis to establish a connection between theProduction cluster and the DR site, which is done by creating anAvailability Zone (AZ) (Option B).

Availability Zones (AZs) define remote sites for replicationand are a requirement for configuring protection domains and disaster recovery plans.

Option A (Installing NGT)is not necessary for setting up replication but is useful for application-consistent snapshots.

Option C (Converting the source cluster to AHV)is not required, as Nutanix supports cross-hypervisor DR betweenESXi and AHV.

Option D (Creating a point-in-time snapshot)is a later step after setting up theAvailability Zone and Protection Policy.

Snapshots that are part of an active recovery operation cannot be deleted until the process is completed or manually canceled.

Option A (Active recovery in progress) is correct:

Nutanix does not allow deletion of snapshots ifthey are being used in an ongoing recovery process.

The administrator shouldverify whether the snapshot is currently part of a Protection Domain or Disaster Recovery (DR) plan.

Option B (Ransomware encryption) is incorrect:

Nutanix snapshots are immutable by defaultandcannot be encrypted by external threats.

Option C (Approval policy denial) is incorrect:

Snapshot deletionsdo not require manual approval, unless controlled by an external workflow system.

Option D (Snapshot corruption) is incorrect:

Nutanixuses checksums to prevent corruption, so snapshots cannot besilently damaged.

Syslog severity levels follow a standard numerical system, wherelower numbers indicate higher severity.

Option B (Severity Level 2) is correct:

Level 2 = CRITICAL→ Used forserious conditions requiring immediate attention.

Audit logs often generate Critical logsrelated tosecurity, access violations, or major failures.

A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated

Options A (0), C (5), and D (7) are incorrect:

0 = Emergency (Too severe, only used for full system failures).

5 = Notice (Not critical, used for general system events).

7 = Debug (Not relevant for critical logs).

Within Nutanix VM classification, Agent VMs are special-purpose system VMs designated for infrastructure tasks. The internal definition states:

“Agent VMs are not live-migratable and do not participate in high-availability evacuation; they are excluded from standard host maintenance operations.”

If a VM is mistakenly marked as an Agent VM, the hypervisor will block all migration attempts. Disabling the Agent VM flag returns the VM to standard workload treatment, making it eligible for live migration.

Updating LLDP has no relevance to VM migration. Backplane port groups affect CVM networking only. ADS influences workload placement but not migration eligibility.

Therefore, removing the Agent VM designation is required to allow migration.

For Disaster Recovery to function correctly, the source and destination storage containers must have identical names.

Option C (Storage container name mismatch) is correct:

If thestorage container name at the DR site does not match, Nutanix cannot mapsnapshots and replication data.

This causesfailover operations to fail, even though data exists.

Option A (NGT not installed) is incorrect:

NGT is needed for application-consistent snapshots, butnot required for crash-consistent snapshots.

Option B (Windows updates) is incorrect:

OS updates do not affect replication availability.

Option D (Storage RF factor mismatch) is incorrect:

Replication works across different RF factors, but performance may vary.

In Nutanix Prism Central, if anadministrator is also an approverfor an approval policy, it can result in repeated prompts for approvals even after the original request is approved. This occurs because the system requires the approver (who is also the requester) to explicitly confirm actions involving protected snapshots to maintain compliance and avoid accidental deletion.

From theNutanix ECA documentation:

“When an administrator is configured as an approver in the approval policy, repeated approval requests may occur because the same user must explicitly confirm actions they initiated, such as deleting protected snapshots. This ensures administrative actions are fully deliberate.”

The Nutanix ECA course covers various methods for organizing and managing virtual machines (VMs) within a Nutanix environment, particularly in Prism Central. The question focuses on easily grouping a set of VMs, which requires a mechanism that is flexible, scalable, and straightforward to apply across multiple VMs for management, reporting, or policy application.

Extract from Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Administration (ECA) Course Documents:

Module: Prism Central Management, Section: Entity Organization"Tags provide a flexible way to group entities such as VMs in Prism Central. Tags are key-value pairs that can be assigned to VMs to categorize them for management, reporting, or policy enforcement. They are easy to apply and can be used to group VMs dynamically across clusters."

Module: VM Management, Section: Grouping VMs"To group a set of VMs for simplified management, Tags are the recommended approach. Unlike Categories, which are used for role-based access control and policy enforcement, Tags are lightweight and ideal for custom grouping without additional configuration overhead."

Explanation of Options:

A. Catalog ItemsThis is incorrect. Catalog Items in Nutanix are used within the Nutanix Calm or Marketplace to manage application blueprints or service offerings, not for grouping VMs. The ECA course states:"Catalog Items represent deployable applications or services in the Marketplace, not a mechanism for grouping existing VMs."They are unrelated to VM organization.

B. LabelsThis is incorrect. The term "Labels" is not used in Nutanix ECA documentation for grouping VMs. While Labels may be a generic term in other platforms, Nutanix uses "Tags" or "Categories" for similar purposes. The ECA materials do not reference Labels as a feature in Prism Central or Prism Element for VM grouping.

C. ProjectsThis is incorrect. Projects in Nutanix Prism Central are used to manage resources, users, and policies for a group of workloads, typically for multi-tenancy or resource allocation. While VMs can be associated with Projects, this involves additional configuration (e.g., assigning users, quotas, and policies) and is not the easiest way to group VMs. The ECA course notes:"Projects are used for resource governance and multi-tenancy, requiring additional setup compared to Tags for simple VM grouping."

D. TagsThis is the correct answer. Tags are lightweight, user-defined key-value pairs that can be applied to VMs in Prism Central to group them for management, monitoring, or reporting purposes. The ECA course emphasizes that Tags are easy to assign and manage, making them ideal for grouping VMs without the overhead of other mechanisms like Categories or Projects. Tags can be applied to multiple VMs at once and used in searches, dashboards, or scripts.

Supporting Extract:"Tags allow administrators to quickly group VMs by assigning custom key-value pairs, such as ‘Department: HR’ or ‘Environment: Production.’ They are ideal for ad-hoc grouping and can be leveraged in Prism Central for filtering and management tasks."

Additional Context from ECA:

Tags are managed in Prism Central under theEntities > Tagssection, where administrators can create, assign, and manage Tags for VMs and other entities. The ECA course highlights their simplicity:"Tags require minimal configuration and can be applied to VMs in bulk, making them the easiest method for grouping."

Unlike Categories, which are used for policy enforcement (e.g., security or placement policies), Tags are purely for organizational purposes, aligning with the question’s focus on ease of use.

Supporting Reference from Web Results:

The Nutanix Bible (https://www.nutanix.com/go/the-nutanix-bible) aligns with the ECA documentation: "Tags in Prism Central provide a simple and flexible way to organize VMs and other entities, enabling administrators to group resources for management or reporting without complex configurations."

After a Prism Central upgrade, IAM authentication settings may require reconfiguration.

Option D (Log in with a local admin account) is correct:

If IAM authentication fails, thelocal admin account must be usedto check domain settings.

Option A (Ping the Domain Controller) is incorrect:

Network connectivity is important, but theissue is likely related to IAM settings, not network reachability.

Option B (Check firewall port 9441) is incorrect:

Port 9441 is used forSSO authentication, butport issues usually result in login delays, not complete failures.

Option C (Validate signing certificate) is incorrect:

While certificates can cause issues,local admin login should always work.

Application discovery in Prism Central requires sufficient Prism Central resources and an active internet connection to retrieve application signatures.

Option A (Sufficient Prism Central VM resources) is correct:

Prism Central needsadequate CPU and memoryto process application signatures and discovery data.

Option B (Internet connection) is correct:

Application discovery depends on Nutanix’scloud databaseto recognize application patterns.

Option C (API key and key ID) is incorrect:

API keys are not requiredfor automatic application discovery.

Option D (Network controller enabled) is incorrect:

Application discoverydoes not depend on a network controller feature.