VMware Certified Professional 6 - Network Virtualization (NSX v6.2): Candidate Guide
The VCP6-NV exam validated whether a candidate could work with VMware NSX for vSphere 6.2 across network virtualization, security, and operational administration. It was aimed at professionals designing, implementing, or managing VMware NSX environments. The key decision today is not simply how to study: exam 2V0-642 was announced for retirement on June 30, 2020, so candidates should verify whether they need historical documentation or a current NSX certification instead.
What this exam was designed to validate
VMware positioned Network Virtualization as a certification track for professionals who design, implement, and manage a VMware NSX environment. The VCP6-NV exam therefore belonged to a practical infrastructure role rather than a purely theoretical networking track. Preparation should have connected NSX features to deployment decisions, traffic flow, security policy, and ongoing administration.
NSX 6.2 was presented as a platform for automating data-center networking and security infrastructure. Its model allowed networking and security policies to move with virtual machines without requiring changes to the underlying physical infrastructure. That product context matters because effective preparation required understanding how virtualized services fit into vSphere operations, not merely memorizing feature names.
The historical exam was associated with VMware Certified Professional 6 – Network Virtualization and used exam number 2V0-642. A community discussion confirmed that the exam was originally created for VCP6-NV and was later used for VCP-NV 2020 on the NSX for vSphere product. Treat that naming overlap as historical exam administration context, not evidence that it is a current certification route.
Should you schedule 2V0-642 now?
No scheduling decision should be made from an old study page alone. VMware announced that exam 2V0-642 would retire on June 30, 2020, and that the NSX for vSphere VCP exam would end while later VCP-NV exams would support NSX-T. A candidate considering this exam should first confirm the current certification catalogue and whether a historical exam appointment is possible or relevant.
The announced successor was VMware Professional NSX-T Data Center 2.4, exam 2V0-41.19. The announcement described that exam as the successor to 2V0-642 and stated that VCP-NV exams would support NSX-T from July 2020 onward. The successor information is useful for understanding the transition, but it should not be treated as a current availability statement.
Use this decision sequence before spending time on preparation: verify the certification and exam status through the current official certification resources; determine whether an employer, transcript review, or legacy skills record specifically requires VCP6-NV; identify the current NSX product version expected in your target role; and only then choose historical documentation study or a current certification path.
VMware’s certification administration guidance explains that exams enter retirement when superseded by a newer version and that the older exam is retired 6-12 months after the newer exam is released. The same guidance says VMware retires certifications each year and rolls out new-year certifications in the first week of January. These policies reinforce the need to check official status rather than rely on an archived page.
Who would have benefited most from the VCP6-NV path?
The strongest audience was infrastructure professionals responsible for VMware-based data-center networking and security. Network administrators, virtualization administrators, systems engineers, consultants, and implementation specialists would have had the clearest reason to study the material because their work could involve both vSphere relationships and NSX control of logical networking.
A candidate with only traditional switching and routing experience would have needed to learn the virtualization boundary: which functions belong to the physical network, which are delivered by NSX, how virtual workloads connect to logical segments, and how security policy follows the workload. Conversely, a vSphere administrator would have needed to strengthen networking fundamentals and traffic troubleshooting.
The exam also suited professionals moving toward architectural or operational responsibility. NSX 6.2 addressed automation, security, availability, cross-data-center use cases, and integration with physical infrastructure. Those themes make the historical certification relevant as a skills map for legacy NSX for vSphere environments, even though the exam itself is retired.
Cisco-certified candidates had a documented historical route that could change the preparation order. VMware’s July 2018 guidance said holders of CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE could skip the required course by submitting proof of the Cisco certification, but still had to pass the vSphere Foundations exam and the VCP6-NV elective exam. The guidance explicitly warned that its paths and requirements could change without prior notice, so it should not be used as a current eligibility rule.
What NSX 6.2 concepts deserve priority?
Start with the NSX operating model: logical networking and security are abstracted from the physical network and applied to virtual workloads. Then connect that model to the major operational areas likely to matter in a legacy NSX environment—logical switching, VXLAN-based connectivity, routing, security controls, service insertion, management components, and troubleshooting. This sequence gives each feature a place in the architecture.
NSX 6.2 was described as enabling vSphere environments to scale within a data center and across data centers while moving the networking and security model with the virtual machine. That description points to a practical study question: what changes when a workload moves, and which control remains logical rather than tied to a physical port or subnet?
Cross-data-center behavior deserves deliberate review. VMware highlighted support for cross-vCenter vMotion over VXLAN with routing and security as an NSX 6.2 advancement for application continuity and disaster recovery. Study the dependencies and traffic path conceptually, then document what must be consistent across participating environments. Avoid reducing the topic to a list of product announcements.
Physical-network integration is another useful boundary to map. VMware identified Open vSwitch Database support as an NSX 6.2 enhancement that enabled more consistent operations across the data-center network and extended micro-segmentation to physical servers. The preparation goal is to explain why this integration matters, where physical and virtual enforcement differ, and how an administrator would reason about a mixed workload.
Security should be studied as an architectural control rather than a collection of slogans. NSX was associated with improving security inside the data center, including micro-segmentation and policy aligned with workloads. Build examples around permitted and denied communication between application tiers, then ask how a policy is applied, how it is verified, and how an unintended block would be isolated.
How should you turn product features into exam-ready knowledge?
For every NSX capability, write four answers: what problem it solves, which component or boundary is involved, what configuration dependency must be satisfied, and how you would verify or troubleshoot the result. This method is more durable than copying definitions because it forces you to connect design intent with administration and diagnosis.
Create a one-page architecture drawing from memory. Include the vSphere environment, NSX management and control functions, logical switching, overlay transport, physical uplinks, routing, and security enforcement. Add arrows for management traffic, control information, and workload data. If you cannot explain an arrow, mark it for review rather than filling the gap with a guess.
Use comparison tables only when the distinction changes an operational decision. Helpful comparisons include physical versus logical networking, local versus cross-data-center workload movement, and connectivity failure versus security-policy denial. For each comparison, record the symptom, the likely layer, the evidence to collect, and the next corrective action.
Translate every study note into a scenario. Instead of writing “VXLAN provides logical network extension,” write a scenario in which two workloads require connectivity across a virtualized infrastructure boundary and then explain the assumptions, encapsulation path, routing implications, and verification steps. Scenario notes expose missing dependencies quickly.
Do not treat third-party question banks, dumps, or leaked material as a substitute for product understanding. Memorizing recalled questions cannot establish that a candidate can design, implement, or manage an NSX environment, and using unauthorized exam content creates a separate integrity risk. Use official product documentation, authorized training, and hands-on configuration work instead.
Which training resources fit the historical version?
The available VMware course catalogue identifies two relevant NSX 6.2 offerings: VMware NSX: Install, Configure, Manage [V6.2] and VMware NSX for Internetworking Experts Fast Track [V6.2]. The first is the natural starting point for a broad implementation and administration foundation; the fast-track option was aimed at candidates whose networking background allowed a more accelerated route.
Choose between those historical course descriptions based on your gaps, not on course title alone. If you are stronger in routing than in VMware administration, a fast-track networking course might still leave operational weaknesses. If you are comfortable with vSphere but unfamiliar with overlay networking, the standard install, configure, and manage sequence would provide a more balanced conceptual structure.
Because these course listings are historical, confirm present availability and any replacement training through the current official certification and learning resources. Do not assume that an old course title, version label, or training completion automatically satisfies a current certification requirement.
A useful self-assessment is to explain a complete change: create or extend a logical network, connect a workload, apply an appropriate security policy, route traffic where required, test the result, and diagnose a failure. If your explanation stops at the user interface, your preparation needs more architecture and troubleshooting work. If it covers dependencies and evidence, you are studying at a more useful professional level.
What is a practical study roadmap?
A staged plan works best: establish the architecture first, build or review configuration skills second, practise fault isolation third, and finish with mixed scenario review. The roadmap below is a planning framework rather than an official schedule. Adjust the pace to your experience and to the amount of access you have to a legitimate NSX 6.2 learning environment.
Stage 1: Confirm the target and baseline your knowledge
Before studying, record the exact historical designation, exam number, and product family you are researching. Then verify status through official sources. Separate three goals that are often confused: earning a currently available certification, documenting a legacy credential, or preparing to support an existing NSX for vSphere deployment.
Complete a baseline without notes. Draw the logical topology, describe the role of overlays, explain how workloads reach external networks, and list likely causes of a connectivity failure. Categorize each answer as confident, partial, or unknown. This gives you a targeted starting list and prevents spending equal time on familiar and unfamiliar topics.
Stage 2: Build the NSX 6.2 architecture map
Study the relationship between vSphere, NSX management, logical networks, overlay transport, routing, physical infrastructure, and security enforcement. For each element, write its purpose and the failure symptoms that would appear if it were unavailable or misconfigured.
Review the NSX 6.2 themes VMware emphasized: automation of network and security operations, micro-segmentation, cross-data-center application continuity, and integration with physical infrastructure through OVSDB support. Keep product-version boundaries visible in your notes so that later NSX-T material does not silently replace NSX for vSphere concepts.
Stage 3: Practise configuration as a chain
Use an authorized lab, training environment, or documented design exercise to follow a complete configuration chain. Begin with prerequisites and transport assumptions, create logical connectivity, attach workloads, configure routing or security as required, and verify behavior from more than one viewpoint.
After each successful exercise, deliberately create one controlled fault. Remove or alter a dependency, change a policy assumption, or test a path that should not be allowed. Record the observed symptom and the evidence that distinguishes a control-plane, data-plane, routing, transport, or policy problem. The aim is disciplined diagnosis, not random clicking.
Stage 4: Review by scenario and explain aloud
In the final review, stop making feature-only flashcards. Use scenarios involving workload mobility, segmented application tiers, external connectivity, cross-data-center movement, physical-server protection, and recovery planning. For each scenario, state the design choice, the dependency, the expected traffic path, the security effect, and the verification method.
Explain your answers aloud without looking at the diagram. Speaking forces you to name assumptions that remain hidden in short notes. When an answer contains “it should work” without a test or a dependency, return to the architecture map and replace the assumption with evidence.
Conclusion
VCP6-NV and exam 2V0-642 are historical credentials tied to NSX for vSphere 6.2, and VMware announced the exam’s retirement on June 30, 2020. The most responsible next action is to verify the current certification route before booking or buying preparation. If you are supporting a legacy deployment, use the exam’s historical scope as a structured checklist: understand the NSX architecture, connect configuration to traffic behavior, practise security and routing diagnosis, and keep NSX for vSphere concepts distinct from later NSX-T requirements.
