June 2024 - Page 2 of 2

Short answer: The authoritative VCF version comes from SDDC Manager, through its UI or the VCF API (GET /v1/releases/system or GET /v1/releases?domainId=...). If you only have vCenter access, look at the vCenter advanced settings that start with config.SDDC.Deployed. SDDC Manager writes them when it creates a management or VI workload domain. config.SDDC.Deployed.Version holds the VCF version, but treat it as a hint and not as the source of truth.

Why the VCF version is not obvious

VCF is a bill of materials, not a single binary. A domain’s VCF release is computed from the component versions deployed in it. For the management domain that means SDDC Manager, vCenter, NSX and ESXi. VI workload domains are computed without SDDC Manager. The SDDC Manager build can also carry a fourth digit for async releases (for example 5.2.0.1), and since 5.2 flexible BOM upgrades let components move independently. So “which vCenter build do I have” is not the same question as “which VCF release is this domain on”.

Method 1: VCF API (authoritative)

The Releases API exposes both the system-wide and the per-domain view:

Endpoint	Returns
`GET /v1/releases/system`	The lowest deployed VCF release across the instance
`GET /v1/releases?domainId={id}`	The release of a specific workload domain
`GET /v1/releases/domains/{id}/future-releases`	Releases that domain can move to
`GET /v1/sddc-managers`	SDDC Manager FQDN and appliance version

# get an access token
TOKEN=$(curl -sk -X POST https://sddc-manager.example.com/v1/tokens \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"administrator@vsphere.local","password":"***"}' | jq -r .accessToken)

# lowest deployed VCF release
curl -sk https://sddc-manager.example.com/v1/releases/system \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq .

# list domains to get their IDs
curl -sk https://sddc-manager.example.com/v1/domains \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq '.elements[] | {name, id}'

Use /v1/releases/system in inventory scripts that need one number per VCF instance. Use the per-domain query when domains are at different releases, which is normal during a rolling upgrade.

Method 2: vCenter advanced settings (config.SDDC.Deployed)

When a monitoring tool or script only talks to vCenter, you can read the markers SDDC Manager leaves on the vCenter object. In the vSphere Client, select the vCenter Server object and go to Configure > Settings > Advanced Settings, then filter for SDDC.

Key	Meaning
`config.SDDC.Deployed.Version`	VCF version recorded for this vCenter
`config.SDDC.Deployed.Type`	VCF or VCF on VxRail
`config.SDDC.Deployed.Flavor`	Deployment flavor (for example Standard or Consolidated)
`config.SDDC.Deployed.WorkloadDomain`	`Management` or `VirtualInfrastructure`
`config.SDDC.Deployed.InstanceId`	UUID of the VCF instance

With PowerCLI:

Connect-VIServer vcenter.example.com
Get-AdvancedSetting -Entity $global:DefaultVIServer |
  Where-Object { $_.Name -like "config.SDDC.*" } |
  Select-Object Name, Value

Caveats: these are plain advanced settings, so anyone with the right privilege can edit them. Broadcom KB 316015 even changes the config.SDDC.Deployed keys by hand when SDDC Manager is removed from a VxRail instance. Their presence tells you vCenter was deployed by VCF. The version value is useful for a quick inventory, but confirm it through the API before you plan an upgrade.

Method 3: SDDC Manager UI

In VCF 5.x, the SDDC Manager UI shows the current version of each workload domain in its inventory and lifecycle views, together with available upgrades. In VCF 9, lifecycle operations for SDDC Manager are driven from VCF Operations, as described in the VCF 9.0 lifecycle documentation. The API methods above still apply.

Which method to use

Upgrade planning, support cases, compliance reports: the VCF API or the SDDC Manager UI.
vCenter-only tooling (PowerCLI reports, monitoring scripts): config.SDDC.Deployed.*, with the caveats above.
Component builds: map vCenter, ESXi and NSX builds to a VCF release using the BOM in the VCF release notes.

For how VCF 9 editions line up with vSphere, see VMware vSphere 9.0 product line comparison. For a lab to test these API calls, see Deploying a minimal VCF 9.0 lab.

Month: June 2024

Broadcom Claims First 5 nm Ethernet Adapter for…