---
title: "VMware vSphere 5.5 Update 1 Hardening Guide"
date: "2014-06-07T12:49:48Z"
tags: ["Hardening Guide"]
categories: ["Networking & Security", "VMware"]
---

![VMware vSphere 5.5 Update 1 Hardening Guide][1]

Mike Foley announced on <a title="VMware blog" href="http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2014/06/vsphere-hardening-guide-5-5-update-1-released.html" rel="noopener">VMware blog</a> that vSphere 5.5 Update 1 Hardening Guide is released.
<!--more-->
<!--adsense-->
There are 4 new additions to the guide:

* enable-VGA-Only-Mode: Used for server VM’s that don’t need a graphical console. e.g. Linux web servers, Windows Core, etc.
* disable-non-essential-3D-features: Remove 3D graphic capabilities from VM’s that don’t need them.
* use-unique-roles: A new companion control to use-service-accounts. If you have multiple service accounts then each one should have a unique role with just enough privs to accomplish their task. This is in line with least-priv operations
* change-sso-admin-password: A great catch. When installing Windows vCenter, you’re prompted to change the password of administrator@vsphere.local. When installing the VCSA in a default manner you are not. This control reminds you to go back and do that.

The rest are formatting, spelling, clarification, etc.. One interesting change is the “enable-nfc-ssl” control. That has been renamed to “verify-nfc-ssl” now that SSL is enabled by default in 5.5 for NFC traffic. All of the changes are called out in the <a style="font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; color: #006990;" href="http://www.vmware.com/files/xls/HardeningGuide-vSphere5-5-Update-1-GA-Changelog.xlsx" rel="noopener">Change Log</a>.

You can download it from here <a title="VMware vSphere Hardening Guide 5.5 Update 1" href="http://www.vmware.com/files/xls/HardeningGuide-vSphere5-5-Update-1-GA.xlsx" rel="noopener">http://www.vmware.com/files/xls/HardeningGuide-vSphere5-5-Update-1-GA.xlsx</a>

[1]: /images/uploads/2014/06/vmware-vsphere-5.5-update-1-hardening-guide.webp