ESXi Operator's Handbook: Automated Administration, Scripting, and Best Practices for VMware Hosts

ESXi Operator's Handbook: Automated Administration, Scripting, and Best Practices for VMware Hosts is an authoritative, practical guide for operators, systems administrators, and architects who manage VMware ESXi in modern data centers. It begins with a clear exposition of ESXi architecture and core virtualization concepts, then quickly moves to operational realities—how ESXi fits into vSphere, how hosts are configured and maintained, and how to think like an operator responsible for availability, performance, and change at scale. The book delivers hands-on, real-world workflows for automated installation, unattended deployments, networking, storage, compute optimization, and granular resource management. Readers will find step-by-step examples and best practices for security hardening, compliance, monitoring, and automated remediation, alongside extensive scripting and automation patterns using PowerCLI, the vSphere REST APIs, Terraform, Ansible, vRealize, and common third-party integrations to ensure consistency and repeatability across environments. Beyond configuration and automation, the handbook focuses on observability, troubleshooting, and threat management so operators can detect, diagnose, and respond to incidents efficiently. Forward-looking chapters explore multi-cloud and edge architectures and the rise of AI-driven operational tooling, equipping readers to run, scale, and secure ESXi hosts with modern automation, strong procedures, and operational confidence.