So for a little while now I have been studying for the upcoming VCAP6-DCV deployment exam, albeit slowly, and putting together a study guide as I went. Recently the beta program was extended to the UK so I jumped in and booked up, the closest test centre was Edinburgh, which is a few hours drive but I wanted to give it a shot.

At this point I knew I hadn’t covered everything, my role at work is hands on deployment so I like to think I have a good foundation but I wanted to make sure I knew all of the objectives well enough to not be fazed by the exam and not have to look at lot up given the time scale on the exam. So I brushed on the parts I wasnt 100% with.

So the day came, I travelled to the centre early and was ready. The test centre, however wasn’t and only opened up about 9:10am I had my exam at 9:30am but I didn’t let it get to me. Then eventually I sat down to login to the exam then sure enough an error! An unexpected error it stated! I then got a feeling this day was going to be a long day.

I didn’t let it get to me after all this is a beta exam I expect there to be some issues. After 2 hours of Pearson Vue trying to resolve it, basically by restarting everything and looking puzzled, they eventually called VMware who fixed it promptly. The issue here was my candidate ID was wrong, I change my email address a week back but the exam wasn’t updated. I can live with this after all it was my choice to change my email address before an exam!

Then the lab started, obviously the exam is NDA so I cant say much. I spend a few minutes getting the windows right, it was a bit laggy but manageable. I started the first objective but nothing was online from the control centre VM. No hosts, no vCenter then I knew the day was going to be a write off.

I quickly told Pearson Vue that I thought the lab was faulty and needed VMware to look at it, they then as a troubleshooting step, END my exam to try and restart it! Sure enough I couldn’t resit it and was told I have to reschedule the exam! So I prepped, travelled hours to get there and to be told to go home and re book it after they ended it, I was frustrated to say the least!

The day had turned into a waste of time.

When I got home I had an email from VMware to say they noticed the exam was finished after 20 mins, which was nice knowing I didnt have to go through the support channels. The guy then looked at the lab and diagnosed the issue I had and confirmed there was a problem with the lab. It was great to know someone could see the issue, if only Pearson Vue had called VMware I might have sat the exam after all.

I now have to wait for Pearson Vue to rearrange the exam for take 2, hopefully I can do this before availability runs out here in the UK.

Moral of the story if you have issues with your lab make sure Pearson Vue call VMware!