VMware ESX and Virtualcenter Security Hardening Guide

If you need to install VMWare, just like any platform don't forget to harden it before you deploy them.

This paper provides recommendations for steps you can take to ensure that your VMware Infrastructure 3 environment is properly secured. It also explains in detail the security-related configuration options of the components of VMware Infrastructure 3 and the consequences for security of enabling certain capabilities.

This guide is for ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5. The previous version for ESX Server 3.0 and VirtualCenter 2.0 can be accessed at VMware Infrastructure 3 Security Hardening guide.

Latest Revision:
Jul 8, 2008

Download:
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vi35_security_hardening_wp.pdf

After hardening, don't treat your virtualized machines like ordinary physical servers. Techtarget.com has some good reasons on normal operations that can affect virtual machines:

• Patching .
• Securing
  
• System Monitoring
  
• Performance Monitoring
  
• Anti-virus
• Backups
• Disk defragging
  

Read the full story.

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(Picture under Creative Commons from Steve Webel's Photostream)