Daniel Micanek virtual Blog – Like normal Dan, but virtual.
After deploying the new VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Installer appliance, the first thing you must setup is the software depot which is where the VCF Installer will go to download the software binaries for deploying either VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) or VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). Users […]
What “vSphere Cluster Services are disabled by retreat mode” means, what breaks in 7.0/8.0 vs 9.0, and how to enter or exit vCLS Retreat Mode.
Retreat Mode removes the vSphere Cluster Services (vCLS) VMs from one cluster. In vSphere 7.0 and 8.0 that has a price: DRS stops working and HA placement becomes suboptimal, which is exactly what the banner “vSphere Cluster Services are disabled by retreat mode” warns you about. From vSphere 9.0, vCLS can be disabled without any impact on DRS or HA. On 7.0 U3o, 8.0 U2 and later you switch it in the vSphere Client in a few clicks.
When a cluster is in Retreat Mode, vCenter shows one of these messages on the cluster:
vSphere Cluster Services are disabled by retreat mode. vSphere DRS is not functioning and vSphere HA will not perform optimally.
vSphere Cluster Services are disabled by retreat mode. vSphere HA will not perform optimally.The exact wording depends on which cluster services are enabled. Both mean the same thing: someone (or a script) put the cluster into Retreat Mode, the vCLS VMs were removed, and the cluster is running without them. If that wasn’t intentional, exit Retreat Mode and the vCLS VMs are redeployed automatically.
vCLS runs small agent VMs in every vSphere cluster to keep cluster services such as DRS running independently of vCenter. There are two implementations:
Retreat Mode tells vCenter to stop running vCLS VMs on one cluster. Embedded vCLS keeps the same per-cluster activate/deactivate capability, so Retreat Mode works the same way on 8.0 U3.
| vSphere version | DRS | HA | vSAN cluster health |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.0.x and 8.0.x | Does not function on the cluster | Restarts VMs, but placement is not optimal (HA relies on DRS for placement) | Cluster Service health shows Degraded |
| 9.0 and later | No impact | No impact | – |
Source: Broadcom KB 316514. On 7.0 and 8.0, use Retreat Mode only for a specific task, such as storage maintenance or troubleshooting, and exit it as soon as you’re done.
vCenter removes the vCLS VMs from the cluster automatically.
domain-c1006. Use only the domain-c<number> part; a wrong ID can break vCenter.Name: config.vcls.clusters.domain-c<number>.enabled
Value: FalseKB 316514 provides a Python script to change Retreat Mode in bulk:
python retreatModeConfiguration.py -r disable
python retreatModeConfiguration.py -r enableconfig.vcls.clusters.domain-c<number>.enabled back to True.retreatModeConfiguration.py with the opposite option.vCenter redeploys the vCLS VMs, and on 7.0/8.0 DRS resumes once they are running. Check that the banner has disappeared from the cluster.
vCLS-{UUID}, where the UUID is the UUID of the ESXi host, and sit in the vCLS folder in the VMs and Templates view.vCLSCRX.agent = true.https://<vCenter>/mob/?moid=vm-1004&doPath=config.managedBy. On vSphere 9 the MOB is disabled by default: see how to enable the MOB in vSphere 9.Related: Introduction to vSphere Clustering Service (vCLS). Official reference: Disable vCLS on a Cluster via Retreat Mode (KB 316514).
One of the features that transformed how virtualization is used is vSphere vMotion. During a vMotion task, one or more VMs are migrated to a different host while still powered on and available to users. The application running in the VM is unaware of this process. The VM goes through a very […]
vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus stop at 8.0 U3; vSphere 9.1 ships only in VVF and VCF. See what each edition includes and which one fits you.
There is no vSphere 9 Standard or Enterprise Plus. Broadcom’s vSphere 9.1 Product Line Comparison states that the standalone vSphere Standard and vSphere Enterprise Plus editions are available only up to 8.0 Update 3, and that vSphere 9.1 features ship only in VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.1 and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1. So the real choice is between staying on 8.0 U3 or moving to VVF or VCF. The tables below show what separates them.
| Edition | Latest vSphere version | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| vSphere Standard | 8.0 Update 3 | Standalone vSphere for basic consolidation: vCenter Standard, vMotion, HA, no DRS or Distributed Switch |
| vSphere Enterprise Plus | 8.0 Update 3 | Standalone vSphere with DRS, Distributed Switch and the advanced resource-management features |
| VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) | 9.1 | vSphere 9.1 bundled with vSAN (0.25 TiB per core), Supervisor / Kubernetes services and VCF Operations for monitoring, logs and compliance |
| VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) | 9.1 | The full private-cloud platform: vSphere, vSAN, NSX, vSphere Kubernetes Service, VCF Operations, VCF Automation, HCX and VCF Private AI services |
Sources: Broadcom vSphere 9.1 Product Line Comparison (Ver 1.0, April 2026) and the VCF 9.1 FAQ (September 2026).
No. Standard and Enterprise Plus end at 8.0 Update 3. If you need anything from vSphere 9.x, you need VVF 9.1 or VCF 9.1. Staying on Standard or Enterprise Plus means staying on the 8.0 line, so check its support dates in the Broadcom product lifecycle matrix before you commit to it.
A selection of the features that most often decide the choice. For the complete matrix (storage protocols, vSAN data services, security features), use the official datasheet.
| Feature | vSphere Standard (8.0 U3) | vSphere Enterprise Plus (8.0 U3) | VVF 9.1 | VCF 9.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vCenter edition | vCenter Standard | vCenter Standard | vCenter Standard | Included |
| vSphere Lifecycle Manager | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| vMotion, HA | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Fault Tolerance | ✔ (2 vCPU only) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) | – | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| vSphere Distributed Switch, LACP, Load-Based Teaming | – | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Network I/O Control (NIOC), port mirroring, NetFlow/IPFIX | – | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Supervisor, vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS), VM Service | – | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| Container networking with Antrea, Supervisor load balancing | – | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| VCF Operations: monitoring, capacity, compliance, log management | – | – | ✔ | ✔ |
| NSX, VCF Automation, HCX | – | – | – | ✔ |
✔ included, – not included. The Standard, Enterprise Plus and VVF columns follow the Broadcom datasheet; the VCF column reflects that VCF includes vSphere and the components listed in the VCF 9.1 FAQ.
| Your situation | Edition | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Small site, a few hosts, no need for DRS or a Distributed Switch, and 8.0 is fine | vSphere Standard | Covers vMotion and HA; no path to 9.x |
| You need DRS, a Distributed Switch or NIOC, and plan to stay on 8.0 for now | vSphere Enterprise Plus | Full resource management on 8.0 U3; no path to 9.x |
| You want vSphere 9.x, Kubernetes via Supervisor/VKS, or built-in operations and compliance monitoring | VVF 9.1 | The smallest bundle that includes vSphere 9.1 |
| You need software-defined networking and security (NSX), self-service automation, or migration with HCX | VCF 9.1 | The full private-cloud stack |
Licensing terms and core minimums change between Broadcom announcements, so confirm them with your Broadcom partner before you size a purchase. Included vSAN capacity, per KB 313548 at the time of writing: 0.25 TiB per core with VVF and 1 TiB per core with VCF.
According to the VCF 9.1 FAQ, VCF 9.1 includes vSphere, vSAN, NSX, vSphere Kubernetes Service, VCF Operations, VCF Automation, HCX and VCF Private AI services. In practice, the step from VVF to VCF is about the network (NSX), automation and multi-site operations rather than about vSphere features themselves. Note that vSAN is not VCF-only: VVF includes 0.25 TiB of vSAN entitlement per licensed core, and VCF includes 1 TiB per core (KB 313548).
What vSphere Supervisor is in VCF 9: VM Service, vSphere Pods, VKS, Zones, Namespaces and Supervisor Services, walked through in hands-on lab HOL-2633-01-VCF-L.
Short answer: vSphere Supervisor turns a vSphere cluster into a Kubernetes control plane, so the same cluster can run VMs through the VM Service, vSphere Pods directly on ESX hosts, and full Kubernetes clusters through vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS). In VCF 9 it is organised with vSphere Zones and Namespaces and extended with Supervisor Services such as Harbor or Velero. Supervisor is part of VVF and VCF, not of standalone vSphere Standard or Enterprise Plus. Below is my walkthrough of Broadcom’s hands-on lab HOL-2633-01-VCF-L.
Modern IT teams are increasingly challenged to manage both traditional virtual machines (VMs) and modern Kubernetes workloads side-by-side. VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 rises to this challenge by tightly integrating vSphere Supervisor, transforming your vSphere clusters into a robust hybrid platform for VMs and Kubernetes.
In this Hands-On Lab (HOL-2633-01-VCF-L), you’ll get guided, practical experience on how to unify VM and Kubernetes management using vSphere Supervisor, from foundational concepts to deploying real workloads.
| Module | Title | Duration | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is the vSphere Supervisor? | 15 min | Beginner |
| 2 | How does the vSphere Supervisor work? | 30 min | Beginner |
Let’s break down each module.
vSphere Supervisor introduces a declarative Kubernetes control plane natively into your vSphere cluster. This means your cluster can now run:
This hybrid model enables a consistent cloud-like experience for both traditional and modern workloads. Supervisor is part of VVF and VCF, not of standalone vSphere Standard or Enterprise Plus (see the vSphere editions comparison).
vSphere Supervisor comes with base services like:
Additional services (like Grafana, Harbor, DNS, and vDPP) can be installed modularly to enhance the Supervisor’s capabilities.
This module is all about getting your hands dirty — you’ll step through setting up vSphere Supervisor, deploying Namespaces, provisioning VMs and Kubernetes clusters, and expanding functionality with services.
(Note: The lab walks through these steps but does not deploy a live Supervisor due to time constraints.)
The lab shows the happy path. These are the failures I have documented from real Supervisor and VKS environments, each with its cause and the fix:
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Supervisor stays in Configuring with “ERROR – Configured Core Supervisor Services”, services show ReconcileFailed | The Supervisor’s HTTPS proxy blocks access to the internal registry | Configured Core Supervisor Services fix |
| Deployment or upgrade hangs at “Installed and Started Kubernetes Node Agent on the ESXi Host” | Hosts are not compliant with the cluster’s vLCM image, so the spherelet VIB can’t be installed | Kubernetes Node Agent vLCM fix |
| Supervisor unhealthy after a year: kubectl Unauthorized, ESXi worker nodes NotReady | Kubernetes and spherelet certificates expired (one-year lifetime) | Rotate Supervisor certificates with certmgr |
| VKS cluster stuck provisioning, workers never power on, “POST /vsanHealth: 503” | The CNS volume service in vmware-vsan-health on vCenter isn’t answering | VKS /vsanHealth 503 fix |
| vsphere-csi-node pods in CrashLoopBackOff with “Unauthorized” | The CSI controller in the VKS cluster uses an old token | vSphere CSI CrashLoopBackOff fix |
| VKS cluster upgrade stuck draining a node | A Pinniped kube-cert-agent pod is recreated on the draining node (VKS 3.3+) | VKS upgrade Pinniped drain fix |
| vSphere Pod to ClusterIP times out (VDS Supervisor), ErrImagePull while installing services | Traffic is hairpinned through the workload network gateway or firewall | ClusterIP timeout on VDS Supervisor |
| TKG or VKS nodes can’t resolve names ending in .local | systemd-resolved sends .local to Multicast DNS | .local DNS resolution fix |
✔️ Unified Operations: Manage VMs and Kubernetes side-by-side in the same cluster with consistent policies.
✔️ Self-Service for DevOps: Namespaces, storage, and VM classes empower developers with agility.
✔️ Resilience and Scalability: Zones and Supervisor Services ensure HA and modularity.
vSphere 9 features in VCF 9.0, tested in the lab: Memory Tiering, vLCM, Live Patch, mixed-vendor clusters and more.
If you’re ready to unlock the full power of VMware’s latest vSphere release, the HOL-2630-01-VCF-L hands-on lab is your perfect starting point. This lab provides a practical deep dive into the newest features, enhancements, and operational improvements in vSphere 9.0, all seamlessly integrated into VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0.
In this walkthrough, I’ll break down what you’ll learn, module by module, to help you get the most out of your lab experience.
Kick things off with a comprehensive overview of what’s new in vSphere 9:
✅ Memory Tiering — Officially introduced, this feature allows NVMe devices to be used as tiered memory, expanding your host’s memory footprint while optimizing costs.
✅ Virtual Hardware Version 22 — Unlocks support for up to 960 logical processors, enhanced device support, and performance improvements for demanding workloads.
✅ VPC in vCenter — Create flexible Virtual Private Clouds and manage public/private networking seamlessly.
✅ Unified Licensing — Say goodbye to license keys — a new secure license file model simplifies lifecycle management.
✅ vSphere Configuration Profiles — The next-gen replacement for Host Profiles, offering cluster-wide desired state config at scale.
You’ll also experience the updated ESX Host Client UI, now with dark mode and deep customization options.
Discover how vLCM is more powerful than ever:
🔹 Staged Updates — Push update payloads to hosts before remediation to minimize maintenance downtime.
🔹 Parallel Remediation — Remediate multiple hosts simultaneously for faster patch cycles — perfect for large clusters.
🔹 Standalone Host Support — Manage isolated hosts via API or the new config profiles.
Efficiency meets performance:
✨ Enhanced DRS (Distributed Resource Scheduler) — Smarter load balancing with new automation levels and predictive DRS for proactive resource allocation.
✨ vMMR (vSphere Memory Monitoring & Remediation) — Gain granular insights into memory usage and performance impact.
✨ Simplified Virtual NUMA — New CPU topology tools simplify configuring vNUMA for VMs, improving latency for sensitive workloads.
Modern workloads, fully supported:
🔑 Virtual TPM (vTPM) Policies — Clone Windows 11 VMs securely by auto-replacing TPM devices.
📈 Virtual Hardware Upgrades — Upgrade clusters to the latest hardware version in bulk.
🔒 Device Virtualization Extensions — Expanded framework for vendors to build hardware-backed virtual devices with better live migration support.
In vSphere 9, clusters can mix hosts from multiple hardware vendors while still managing updates with cluster-based images. This makes infrastructure more flexible and vendor-agnostic.
Zero downtime patching is here:
⏱️ Live Patch — Apply updates to ESXi hosts without reboots or maintenance mode. Improve security posture while keeping workloads running.
Dive deeper into Memory Tiering:
📚 Learn how to set up NVMe drives as cost-effective memory extensions, boosting capacity and lowering DRAM costs.
📊 See how this impacts workload density and CPU utilization.
Simplify your day-to-day management:
🗝️ Unified License Management — Use the VCF Business Services Console to license your entire Software Defined Data Center with a single license file.
📋 One Pane of Glass — Link vCenter instances for holistic operations and monitoring.
vSphere 9 is only available in VVF and VCF; standalone vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus stop at 8.0 Update 3. See the vSphere editions comparison for 9.1 for what each edition includes.
Hands-on with the new operations capabilities in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, module by module, in lab HOL-2610-03-VCF-L.
Ready to elevate your VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) operations game?
In the latest Hands-On Lab HOL-2610-03-VCF-L, you’ll get practical experience with all the new operational capabilities in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, learning how to monitor, secure, troubleshoot, and manage your private cloud infrastructure efficiently.
Below is a deep dive into each module so you know exactly what to expect.
Kick off by mastering the new Diagnostic Findings and VCF Health tools.
🔑 Takeaway: Get proactive issue detection and a health dashboard for streamlined troubleshooting.
The new Network Operations Dashboard integrates NSX and vSphere network monitoring right into VCF Operations—no more jumping between consoles!
🔑 Takeaway: Gain deep insights into your network’s health, traffic, and relationships—all in one place.
Next, manage your storage like a pro:
You’ll learn to filter by storage type, run diagnostics, and use dashboards to ensure healthy storage across the environment.
🔑 Takeaway: Proactively monitor and troubleshoot storage issues before they impact workloads.
Security is a top priority in VCF 9.0—and the new Security Operations Dashboard puts control at your fingertips:
🔑 Takeaway: Unified, real-time visibility into user actions and infrastructure security helps you strengthen compliance and reduce vulnerabilities.
Finally, master cost transparency and control:
🔑 Takeaway: Simplify financial operations and ensure tenants have clear insights into their cloud usage and costs.
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Operations introduces robust, integrated monitoring and management tools designed to:
What’s new in VCF 9.0 automation, walked through module by module in hands-on lab HOL-2610-02-VCF-L for self-service private cloud.
Ready to unleash true self-service private cloud automation? VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 is packed with robust automation features, and the HOL-2610-02-VCF-L lab is your guided hands-on tour to master them.
Whether you’re a cloud admin, service provider, or an automation enthusiast, this lab takes you from zero to hero, showing you exactly how VCF 9.0 streamlines infrastructure operations, enforces governance, and accelerates modern application deployment. Here’s an inside look at what you’ll experience.
⏱️ Length: 15 min | Level: Beginner
You’ll kick things off with the new Quick Start Wizard, a major usability boost in VCF 9.0. It offers both manual and automated workflows to configure your environment in minutes.
💡 Lab highlight: Experience an interactive simulation that mimics a real deployment—perfect if you want to see the process without spinning up actual infrastructure.
⏱️ Length: 15 min | Level: Beginner
The Provider Portal is your mission control. In this module, you’ll:
✅ Explore the Infrastructure Overview—see organizations, regions, supervisors, and content libraries at a glance.
✅ Configure Access Control—add users, assign or create custom roles, and manage permissions.
✅ Connect Identity Providers—integrate OIDC, LDAP, or SAML for centralized authentication. Bring your enterprise-grade security posture directly into VCF Automation.
⏱️ Length: 30 min | Level: Advanced
Here’s where things get powerful:
✨ Content Libraries: Learn to create tenant-specific libraries to manage VM images and deployment blueprints. Unlike provider libraries, these are isolated per organization, supporting granular control.
🔑 IaaS Policies: Enforce compliance automatically. Create policies to govern how resources are provisioned and what users can do post-deployment. For example, the lab guides you through setting an IaaS Resource Policy to block unauthorized VM deployments—then tests it live to see policy enforcement in action.
🧭 Governance Tools: Leverage centralized billing, resource sharing, and collaboration while keeping strict security boundaries between tenants.
⏱️ Length: 30 min | Level: Advanced
This final module shows how VCF 9.0 transforms modern app delivery:
🐳 Supervisor Clusters: Understand how vSphere Supervisor and Namespaces abstract infrastructure complexity, letting users consume IaaS resources through Kubernetes APIs.
⚙️ Blueprint Design: Hands-on time! You’ll deploy:
🔍 Day 2 Operations: Explore post-deployment operations—view resources, manage them through intuitive interfaces, and understand the cloud-native approach to scaling and managing workloads.
By the end of HOL-2610-02-VCF-L, you’ll have practical experience with:
A module-by-module guide to hands-on lab HOL-2610-01-VCF-L and the platform changes in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.
If you’re ready to level up your understanding of modern cloud infrastructure, the HOL-2610-01-VCF-L Hands-on Lab is your best launchpad into VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0. In this detailed guide, I’ll walk you through the lab’s structure, key learning points, and the new features it reveals — straight from VMware’s latest release.
This lab is perfect for beginners and experienced admins alike. In about 75 minutes, it covers:
✅ Module 1: VCF Constructs, Components, Operations, and Identity
✅ Module 2: How to Deploy VCF — from scratch or by converging existing infrastructure
✅ Module 3: How to boost productivity with Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs)
By the end, you’ll know how to build, manage, and scale a robust private cloud platform with the very latest VMware tools.
At the core of VCF 9.0 are a few new concepts:
VCF 9.0 refines its component structure:
| VCF 5.x | VCF 9.0 |
|---|---|
| VMware Cloud Builder | VCF Installer |
| SDDC Manager | SDDC Manager (via VCF Operations) |
| VMware Aria Ops | VCF Operations |
| VMware vIDM | VCF Identity Broker |
The new VCF Operations console unifies:
Bonus: The new VCF Identity Broker (IdB) replaces vIDM for Single Sign-On — making authentication cleaner and more integrated.
You have two main options:
Already have vCenter and ESX running? Good news:
Tip: The lab’s Interactive Simulations show exactly how this works, step-by-step.
A major highlight of VCF 9.0 is its native VPC and Transit Gateway support:
Beyond setup, the lab also covers:
The HOL-2610-01-VCF-L lab is more than an overview — it’s a practical sandbox to test VMware’s latest unified operations, automation, and networking innovations for private cloud. Whether you’re modernizing existing clusters or starting fresh, VCF 9.0’s new tools streamline every step.
✅ Duration: ~75 mins
✅ Free & self-paced
✅ Includes guided interactive simulations
👉 Start now: VMware Hands-on Labs — or search for HOL-2610-01-VCF-L
A guided tour of the VMware Hands-on Labs for VCF 9.0: which lab covers which new capability, and where to start.
Ready to dive into the exciting world of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0? The latest release brings powerful new capabilities for modern, unified private cloud environments — and the best way to get hands-on is with the updated VMware HOLs.
Below, I’ve rounded up the top new labs covering Platform, Automation, Operations, vSphere updates, and Kubernetes integration — so you can quickly see what’s new and where to start.
Lab: HOL-2610-01-VCF-L
Level: Beginner
Modules:
✅ Why take this lab? It’s your foundational guide to the new VCF Operations interface and the deployment workflow — great for newcomers or those upgrading from older VCF versions.
Lab: HOL-2610-02-VCF-L
Level: Beginner–Advanced
Modules:
✅ Why take this lab? Automate self-service private clouds, enforce governance, and speed up application delivery — key skills for cloud admins and SREs.
Lab: HOL-2610-03-VCF-L
Level: Beginner
Modules:
✅ Why take this lab? Master health monitoring, flow analysis, vSAN management, security operations, and cost transparency with chargeback — all with the new unified Operations interface.
Lab: HOL-2630-01-VCF-L
Level: Beginner–Advanced
Modules:
✅ Why take this lab? Learn how vSphere 9.0 simplifies license management with Unified Licensing, enhances performance with Memory Tiering, enables Live Patching with zero downtime, and makes cluster lifecycle operations smoother — even across mixed hardware vendors.
Lab: HOL-2633-01-VCF-L
Level: Beginner
Modules:
✅ Why take this lab? See how vSphere Supervisor bridges VMs and Kubernetes, get hands-on with configuration, and deploy Kubernetes clusters alongside traditional VMs — all from vCenter.
All these labs are free, self-paced, and available right now in the VMware Hands-on Labs catalog. Whether you’re planning a fresh deployment, modernizing operations, or integrating Kubernetes, these labs ensure you’re ready to make the most of VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.
👉 Check out the labs and start exploring: VMware Hands-on Labs
