Free Nutanix NCM-MCI Exam Dumps August 2026

This task focuses on Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) and general hardening of the Nutanix cluster. Most of these tasks are best performed via the Nutanix Command Line Interface (ncli) on the CVM, though the SSH key requirement is often easier to handle via the Prism GUI.

Here is the step-by-step procedure to complete Task 2.

Prerequisites: Connection

Open PuTTY (or the available terminal) from the provided Windows Desktop.

SSH into the Cluster 2 CVM. (If the Virtual IP is unknown, check Prism Element for the CVM IP).

Log in using the provided credentials (usually nutanix / nutanix/4u or the admin password provided in your instructions).

Step 1: Output SCMA Policy (Do this FIRST)

Requirement: Output the cluster-wide configuration of the SCMA policy to desktop\output.txt before changes are made.

In the SSH session on the CVM, run:

Bash

ncli cluster get-software-config-management-policy

Copy the output from the terminal window.

Open Notepad on the Windows Desktop.

Paste the output.

Save the file as output.txt on the Desktop.

Step 2: Enable AIDE (Weekly)

Requirement: Enable the Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment (AIDE) to run on a weekly basis for the hypervisor and CVMs.

In the same CVM SSH session, run the following command to modify the SCMA policy:

Bash

ncli cluster edit-software-config-management-policy enable-aide=true schedule-interval=WEEKLY

(Note: This single command applies the policy to both Hypervisor and CVMs by default in most versions).

Step 3: Enable High-Strength Password Policies

Requirement: Enable high-strength password policies for the hypervisor and cluster.

Run the following command:

Bash

ncli cluster set-high-strength-password-policy enable=true

Step 4: Update Root Password for Cluster Nodes

Requirement: Update the password for the root user on the Cluster 2 node to match the admin user password.

Method A: The Automated Way (Recommended)

Use ncli to set the password for all hypervisor nodes at once without needing to SSH into them individually.

Run:

Bash

ncli cluster set-hypervisor-password

When prompted, enter the current admin password (this becomes the new root password).

Method B: The Manual Way (If NCLI fails or manual access is required)

Note: Use this if the exam specifically wants you to touch the node via the 172.x network.

From the CVM, SSH to the host using the internal IP:

Bash

ssh root@172.30.0.x (Replace x with the host ID, e.g., 4 or 5)

Run the password change command:

Bash

passwd

Enter the admin password twice.

Repeat for other nodes in Cluster 2.

Step 5: Cluster Lockdown (SSH Keys)

Requirement: Ensure CVMs require SSH keys for login instead of passwords.

It is safest to do this via the Prism Element GUI to prevent locking yourself out.

Open Prism Element for Cluster 2 in the browser.

Click the Gear Icon (Settings) -> Cluster Lockdown.

Uncheck the box 'Enable Remote Login with Password'.

Click New Public Key (or Add Key).

Open the folder Desktop\Files\SSH on the Windows desktop.

Open the public key file (usually ends in .pub) in Notepad and copy the contents.

Paste the key into the Prism 'Key' box.

Click Save.

Note: Do not reboot the cluster. The SCMA and Password policies take effect immediately without a reboot.

To configure the cluster to meet the requirements for the new workload, you need to do the following steps:

Create a new VLAN with ID 667 on the cluster. You can do this by logging in to Prism Element and going to Network Configuration > VLANs > Create VLAN. Enter 667 as the VLAN ID and a name for the VLAN, such as 667_VLAN.

Create a new network segment with the network details provided. You can do this by logging in to Prism Central and going to Network > Network Segments > Create Network Segment. Enter a name for the network segment, such as 667_Network_Segment, and select 667_VLAN as the VLAN. Enter 192.168.0.0 as the Network Address and 255.255.255.0 as the Subnet Mask. Enter 192.168.0.1 as the Default Gateway and 34.82.231.220 as the DNS Server. Enter cyberdyne.net as the Domain Name.

Create a new IP pool with the IP range provided. You can do this by logging in to Prism Central and going to Network > IP Pools > Create IP Pool. Enter a name for the IP pool, such as 667_IP_Pool, and select 667_Network_Segment as the Network Segment. Enter 192.168.9.100 as the Starting IP Address and 192.168.9.200 as the Ending IP Address.

Configure the DHCP server with the IP address provided. You can do this by logging in to Prism Central and going to Network > DHCP Servers > Create DHCP Server. Enter a name for the DHCP server, such as 667_DHCP_Server, and select 667_Network_Segment as the Network Segment. Enter 192.168.0.2 as the IP Address and select 667_IP_Pool as the IP Pool.

To create a report named Weekends that meets the requirements, you can follow these steps:

Log in to Prism Central and click on Entities on the left menu.

Select Virtual Machines from the drop-down menu and click on Create Report.

Enter Weekends as the report name and a description if required. Click Next.

Under the Custom Views section, select Data Table. Click Next.

Under the Entity Type option, select Cluster. Click Next.

Under the Custom Columns option, add the following variable: CPU Usage (%). Click Next.

Under the Aggregation option for CPU Usage (%), select Max. Click Next.

Under the Filter option, select Current Cluster from the drop-down menu. Click Next.

Click on Add to add this custom view to your report. Click Next.

Under the Custom Views section, select Data Table again. Click Next.

Under the Entity Type option, select VM. Click Next.

Under the Custom Columns option, add the following variables: Name, I/O Read Latency (ms), VM Ready Time (%). Click Next.

Under the Aggregation option for I/O Read Latency (ms) and VM Ready Time (%), select Max. Click Next.

Under the Filter option, enter ORA* in the Name field. This will include any future VM with the prefix OR

One possible reason why the SQL03 VM was not powered back on after a host failure is that the cluster was configured with the default (best effort) VM high availability mode, which does not guarantee the availability of VMs in case of insufficient resources on the remaining hosts. To resolve this issue, I suggest changing the VM high availability mode to guarantee (reserved segments), which reserves some memory on each host for failover of VMs from a failed host. This way, the SQL03 VM will have a higher chance of being restarted on another host in case of a host failure.

To change the VM high availability mode to guarantee (reserved segments), you can follow these steps:

Log in to Prism Central and select the cluster where the SQL VMs are running.

Click on the gear icon on the top right corner and select Cluster Settings.

Under Cluster Services, click on Virtual Machine High Availability.

Select Guarantee (Reserved Segments) from the drop-down menu and click Save.

To configure the environment to ensure any single host failure affects a minimal number of SQL VMs, I suggest using anti-affinity rules, which prevent VMs that belong to the same group from running on the same host. This way, if one host fails, only one SQL VM will be affected and the other SQL VMs will continue running on different hosts.

To create an anti-affinity rule for the SQL VMs, you can follow these steps:

Log in to Prism Central and click on Entities on the left menu.

Select Virtual Machines from the drop-down menu and click on Create Group.

Enter a name for the group, such as SQL Group, and click Next.

Select the SQL VMs (SQL01, SQL02, SQL03) from the list and click Next.

Select Anti-Affinity from the drop-down menu and click Next.

Review the group details and click Finish.

I hope this helps. How else can I help?

https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/details?targetId=AHV-Admin-Guide-v6_5:ahv-affinity-policies-c.html

To configure a DR solution that meets the stated requirements, you can follow these steps:

Log in to the Web Console of the source cluster where the VMs are running.

Click on Protection Domains on the left menu and click on Create Protection Domain.

Enter a name for the protection domain, such as PD_Mkt01, and a description if required. Click Next.

Select Mkt01 from the list of VMs and click Next.

Select Schedule Based from the drop-down menu and enter 2 hours as the interval. Click Next.

Select Remote Site from the drop-down menu and choose the remote site where you want to replicate the VM. Click Next.

Enter 5 as the number of snapshots to retain on both local and remote sites. Click Next.

Review the protection domain details and click Finish.

Repeat the same steps for Fin01 and Dev01, using PD_Fin01 and PD_Dev01 as the protection domain names, and adjusting the interval and retention values according to the requirements.

To restore the VM and ensure it is reachable on the network, you can follow these steps:

Log in to the Web Console of the cluster where the VM is running.

Click on Virtual Machines on the left menu and find Cent_Down from the list. Click on the power icon to power off the VM.

Click on the snapshot icon next to the power icon to open the Snapshot Management window.

Select a snapshot from the list that was taken before the network stack was corrupted. You can use the date and time information to choose a suitable snapshot.

Click on Restore VM and confirm the action in the dialog box. Wait for the restore process to complete.

Click on the power icon again to power on the VM.

Log in to the VM using SSH or console with the username and password provided.

Run the commandping 172.31.0.1to verify that the VM is reachable on the network. You should see a reply from the destination IP address.

Go to VMS from the prism central gui

Select the VMand go to More -> Guest Shutdown

Go to Snapshots tab and revert to latest snapshot available

power on vm and verify if ping is working

This is a classic Nutanix performance troubleshooting scenario. The issue is almost certainly that the VM was created using the wrong Disk Bus Type (IDE or SATA instead of SCSI).

Here is the step-by-step solution to complete Task 1.

Part 1: Analysis and Reporting

Create the Session

Log in to Prism Central (or Prism Element, depending on the exam environment, but Analysis is usually a PC feature).

Navigate to Operations -> Analysis.

Click New Session.

Name: Monitor SQL02

Entity: Search for and select the VM named SQL02.

Metrics: Since the issue is storage performance, search for and add these specific metrics:

Hypervisor IOPS (or Controller IOPS)

Hypervisor IO Latency (or Controller IO Latency)

Hypervisor IO Bandwidth

Click Save.

Save Session Data (Task 1.txt)

Open the 'Monitor SQL02' session you just created.

(Per instructions): Right-click anywhere on the chart/data area -> Click Select All.

Copy the selected text (Ctrl+C).

Open Notepad on the provided desktop.

Paste the data.

Save the file as Task 1.txt on the Desktop.

Create and Schedule the Report

While still in the Analysis session, click the Create Report (or 'Add to Report') button.

Report Name: MonitorSQL02

Report Settings:

Format: PDF

Frequency: Daily

Email Recipient: perf_group@ACME.org

Retention: 0 (or 'Do not retain', as requested).

Note: If the system forces you to create a new Report object and MonitorSQL02 is rejected, use monitorvm2 as the name per the instructions.

Save/Schedule the report.

Part 2: Diagnose and Fix the Issue

The Issue:

VM SQL02 was likely created with its data disks set to IDE or SATA.

Why this causes poor performance: IDE/SATA are emulated hardware with high CPU overhead and low queue depths (single-threaded).

The Standard: SQL01 (the healthy VM) is using SCSI, which is multithreaded and optimized for virtualization.

The Fix (Steps):

Navigate to the VM list in Prism.

Select SQL02 and click Update (or Edit).

Scroll down to the Disks section.

Identify the data disk(s). You will see the Bus Type listed as IDE or SATA.

Do not delete the VM. instead, perform a disk conversion (destructive change to the disk is allowed, but we want to keep the data).

Method to Convert (Clone to SCSI):

Hover over the IDE/SATA disk to see the path/filename of the vDisk (or write it down).

Click Add New Disk.

Operation: select Clone from ADSF file.

Path: Browse to the storage container and select the file associated with the current IDE disk.

Bus Type: Select SCSI (This is the critical fix).

Index: Ensure it doesn't conflict with existing disks (usually index 1 or higher for data).

Click Add.

Once the new SCSI disk is added, find the original IDE/SATA disk and click the X to remove it.

Click Save.

Note: You do not need to power on the VM to verify. The change from IDE to SCSI allows the VM to use the Nutanix VirtIO drivers for maximum storage performance.