NCP-MCI 7.5: Nutanix Certified Professional - Multicloud Infrastructure Practice Exam

What the NCP-MCI 7.5 exam covers

• Cluster Management and Deployment97 questions
• AHV Virtualization and VM Management91 questions
• Networking93 questions
• Storage Management95 questions
• Data Protection and Disaster Recovery91 questions
• Security95 questions
• Monitoring, Health, and Alerts91 questions
• Lifecycle Management and Upgrades92 questions

Free NCP-MCI 7.5 sample questions

A sample of 10 questions with answers and explanations. Sign up free to practice all 745.

1. Question 1Cluster Management and Deployment

   An administrator has received three new factory-shipped nodes that need their hypervisor and AOS imaged before a cluster can be built. Which Nutanix tool is purpose-built to discover bare-metal nodes and image them with a chosen hypervisor and AOS version?

   • AFoundationCorrect
   • BLife Cycle Manager (LCM)
   • CNutanix Cluster Check (NCC)
   • DPrism Central
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   Foundation is the Nutanix bare-metal provisioning tool that discovers unconfigured nodes over IPv6 link-local, installs the selected hypervisor (AHV, ESXi, or Hyper-V) along with the chosen AOS version, and optionally creates the cluster in a single workflow. It runs from a portable Foundation VM, the standalone Foundation applet, or the CVM-embedded Foundation, and assigns the CVM, hypervisor, and IPMI IP addresses during imaging. This is the only tool designed to take factory or wiped nodes from no operating system to a fully imaged, cluster-ready state.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BLife Cycle Manager (LCM) updates firmware and software on an already-running cluster, but it cannot image bare-metal nodes that have no AOS installed.
   • CNutanix Cluster Check (NCC) is a health-checking framework that runs diagnostics on an existing cluster, not an imaging tool.
   • DPrism Central is a multi-cluster management plane that registers and monitors clusters after they exist, and it does not perform node imaging.
2. Question 2Cluster Management and Deployment

   An administrator runs a health check before performing cluster maintenance. Which Nutanix tool provides built-in health checks and generates a comprehensive report on cluster, node, and component status?

   • ANCC (Nutanix Cluster Check)Correct
   • BFoundation
   • CFlow Network Security
   • DNutanix Move
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   NCC is the diagnostic framework built into AOS that runs a broad set of health checks across hardware, the hypervisor, CVM services, networking, and configuration, and produces a consolidated report with PASS, WARN, FAIL, or INFO results. Administrators routinely run a full NCC health check before lifecycle operations such as upgrades, node addition, or maintenance to confirm the cluster is healthy enough to proceed safely. It can be run from Prism or the CVM command line and is also used by support for troubleshooting.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BFoundation is the imaging and deployment tool used to lay down AOS and the hypervisor on nodes, not a health-reporting tool.
   • CFlow Network Security provides microsegmentation policy enforcement for VM traffic, unrelated to cluster health checks.
   • DNutanix Move migrates VMs between hypervisors and does not assess cluster component health.
3. Question 3AHV Virtualization and VM Management

   How does AHV handle guest VM memory allocation by default?

   • AAll VMs are overcommitted automatically with no action
   • BAll guest memory is compressed before being backed by RAM
   • CEach running VM is backed by host physical RAMCorrect
   • DHalf of each VM's memory is paged to disk to free capacity
   ✓ Correct answer: C

   AHV does not overcommit guest memory by default; each running VM's assigned memory is backed by host physical RAM, so the standard model is reservation. Memory overcommit is an opt-in capability enabled on specific VMs, after which aggregate VM memory can exceed physical RAM. Administrators must size hosts so powered-on VMs fit within physical memory unless overcommit is explicitly enabled.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • AOvercommit is not the default; it is enabled per selected VM.
   • BAHV does not compress all guest memory as a default backing mechanism.
   • DAHV does not page half of each VM's memory to disk by default.
4. Question 4Networking

   An organization wants VMs in a Flow Virtual Networking VPC to reach the corporate network and the internet. The VPC must be attached to a subnet that already exists in the physical network and is reachable by the rest of the datacenter. What must the administrator configure to give the VPC this connectivity?

   • AAn external subnet configured with NAT or No-NAT and associated with the VPCCorrect
   • BA second overlay subnet inside the same VPC
   • CA Flow Network Security isolation policy
   • DAn additional uplink bond on each AHV host
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   External connectivity for a Flow Virtual Networking VPC is provided by attaching the VPC to an external subnet, which is a VLAN-backed subnet that bridges the overlay VPC to the physical network through the network gateway. The external subnet can be configured in NAT mode, where VPC traffic is source-NATed to floating or SNAT IPs, or No-NAT mode, where VPC subnets are advertised and routed natively. This is the standard Prism Central workflow to let VPC VMs reach corporate resources and the internet.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BA second overlay subnet only adds more internal address space within the VPC and does not provide any path to the physical network.
   • CA Flow Network Security isolation policy filters or blocks traffic; it cannot create a route to external networks.
   • DAn additional uplink bond changes physical NIC teaming on the host and does not establish VPC-to-external routing through the gateway.
5. Question 5Storage Management

   In Prism Element, where does an administrator go to create a new Volume Group, add disks, and attach iSCSI clients for Nutanix Volumes?

   • AThe Storage dashboard, Volume Group view (Table > +Volume Group)Correct
   • BThe Hardware dashboard, Disk view
   • CThe Data Protection dashboard, Async DR view
   • DThe Settings > Network Configuration page
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   In Prism Element, Volume Groups are created and managed from the Storage dashboard's Volume Group table, where the administrator can add the Volume Group, define its disks, set sharing options, and attach iSCSI clients or VMs. This is the central workflow for provisioning Nutanix Volumes block storage. The Storage dashboard also surfaces capacity and the data services IP relationship for these objects.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BThe Hardware dashboard's Disk view shows the physical drives in the nodes, not logical Volume Group objects.
   • CThe Data Protection dashboard's Async DR view is for Protection Domains, snapshots, and replication, not for creating Volume Groups.
   • DThe Settings > Network Configuration page manages networks and IP settings such as the data services IP, but it is not where Volume Groups are created.
6. Question 6Data Protection and Disaster Recovery

   What can a single Nutanix Disaster Recovery (Leap) recovery plan include?

   • AA single stage with one network mapping for all failovers
   • BOnly VM power-on order, with mapping handled elsewhere
   • CJust custom scripts, since staging needs another tool
   • DMultiple stages, prod and test mappings, and scriptsCorrect
   ✓ Correct answer: D

   A Leap recovery plan can contain multiple ordered stages of VMs, separate network mappings for production and isolated test failover, and custom script or manual steps inserted between stages, forming a complete repeatable runbook. Prism Central executes it during validation, test failover, and planned or unplanned failover, making the plan the single source of truth for recovering an application.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • AA recovery plan supports multiple stages and distinct production and test mappings.
   • BNetwork mapping is defined within the recovery plan, not elsewhere.
   • CStaging, mappings, and scripts all live in the one recovery plan object.
7. Question 7SecuritySelect all that apply

   Which TWO statements correctly describe SSH key management when cluster lockdown is enabled on a Nutanix cluster? (Choose TWO)

   • AAdministrators add public keys in Prism, and the matching private key is used to authenticateCorrect
   • BThe private key is uploaded to the cluster and stored on every CVM
   • CMultiple named public keys can be added so different administrators have distinct key-based accessCorrect
   • DEnabling lockdown also disables all Prism web UI logins
   ✓ Correct answer: A, C

   With cluster lockdown, administrators add one or more SSH public keys (each with a descriptive name) through Prism, and authentication succeeds only when the connecting client presents the corresponding private key. Because the cluster stores a list of named public keys, multiple administrators can each have their own key entry, allowing individual key-based access and the ability to revoke a single person's key without affecting others. This model removes password authentication entirely while still supporting per-user accountability.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BThe private key is never uploaded to or stored on the cluster; only the public key is added, and the private key remains with the user.
   • DEnabling lockdown affects only password-based SSH shell access; it does not disable Prism web UI logins, which continue to use their configured authentication.
8. Question 8Monitoring, Health, and Alerts

   An NCC health check returns a status of INFO. How should an administrator interpret this result?

   • AThe check failed and requires immediate remediation
   • BThe check provides informational data and no action is requiredCorrect
   • CThe check could not run because a CVM was unreachable
   • DThe check detected a condition that may become a problem soon
   ✓ Correct answer: B

   NCC reports each plugin's outcome as PASS, FAIL, WARN, INFO, or ERR. An INFO result simply surfaces useful contextual data about the cluster, such as configuration values or counts, and does not indicate a fault; no remediation is expected from the administrator. INFO checks are intentionally non-alerting and exist to provide visibility into the environment when reviewing NCC output in Prism or on the CVM.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • AA failed check that requires immediate remediation is reported as FAIL, not INFO.
   • CA check that could not run because a CVM was unreachable is reported as ERR, indicating the plugin itself did not complete.
   • DA condition that may become a problem soon is reported as WARN, signaling a degraded or threshold-approaching state rather than informational data.
9. Question 9Lifecycle Management and Upgrades

   On a cluster running VMware ESXi rather than AHV, who is generally responsible for providing and qualifying the ESXi hypervisor upgrade bundles, and how does Nutanix participate?

   • AVMware provides ESXi images, and Nutanix qualifies/orchestrates supported ESXi versions via the one-click hypervisor upgrade with a metadata fileCorrect
   • BNutanix builds and distributes its own ESXi installer images in place of the ones VMware ships
   • CESXi on a Nutanix cluster cannot be upgraded and must be replaced by converting to AHV first
   • DESXi upgrades require rebuilding the cluster with Foundation for every hypervisor version change
   ✓ Correct answer: A

   For ESXi on Nutanix, VMware supplies the ESXi installer images while Nutanix qualifies which ESXi versions are supported and orchestrates the upgrade through the one-click hypervisor upgrade using a Nutanix-provided metadata file alongside the VMware image. This division lets Nutanix drive a safe rolling ESXi upgrade with the vendor's bits. The metadata plus VMware image model is how ESXi is upgraded here.

   Why the other options are wrong

   • BNutanix does not build ESXi images; VMware supplies them while Nutanix qualifies and orchestrates the upgrade.
   • CESXi can be upgraded on a Nutanix cluster through the one-click hypervisor upgrade; conversion to AHV is not required.
   • DESXi upgrades are performed in place, not by re-imaging the cluster with Foundation each time.
10. Question 10Networking

    An administrator needs to confirm, from the AHV host CLI, whether a specific VM's tap (vNIC) interface is currently attached to bridge br0 and which VLAN tag is applied to it. Which approach BEST retrieves this information directly on the host?

    • AUse the Open vSwitch tooling on the host (e.g., ovs-vsctl show / list port) to display bridge port membership and the VLAN tag on the VM's tap interfaceCorrect
    • BRun acli net.list on the AHV host CLI to enumerate the bridge-to-tap mappings and their VLAN tags
    • CInspect /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts on the host, which stores the per-VM tap VLAN assignments as files
    • DQuery the CVM Stargate service, which owns the OVS database and reports the tap-to-VLAN bindings
    ✓ Correct answer: A

    AHV uses Open vSwitch (OVS) for Layer 2 forwarding, and each VM vNIC maps to an OVS tap interface that is added as a port on a bridge such as br0. The ovs-vsctl command set inspects the OVS database on the host: 'ovs-vsctl show' lists bridges and ports, and listing a specific port reveals its 'tag' (access VLAN). This is the authoritative, host-local way to verify which bridge a tap is on and the VLAN applied. Prism shows the intended configuration, but the OVS database reflects what is actually programmed.

    Why the other options are wrong

    • Bacli runs from the CVM and lists logical networks; it does not show host-level OVS tap port membership.
    • COVS tap ports are not defined in network-scripts files; that directory does not hold per-VM VLAN tags.
    • DStargate is the storage I/O service and does not own the OVS database or report tap VLAN bindings.

Related Nutanix resources

• NCP-MCI 7.5 study guideKey concepts
• Nutanix practice examsAll Nutanix
• Certification pathWhere this fits
• Certification exam guides & tipsBlog
• Plans & pricingFree & paid
• NCM-MCI 6.10 practice examRelated
• NCA 7.5 practice examRelated

NCP-MCI 7.5 practice exam FAQ