Daniel Micanek virtual Blog – Like normal Dan, but virtual.
Automating the Retrieval of VCF Installer Deployment Milestones
When deploying a new VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) instance, whether converting an existing vSphere based environment or deploying a net new setup, the VCF Installer provides a graphical view of the current milestones and the individual tasks within each milestone. While you likely will not sit […]
GPU Consumption Models as the First Architectural Choice in Production AI | The previous article covered GPU placement as part of the platform’s lifecycle, not just a scheduling step. These choices affect what the platform can handle as workloads evolve. Before making placement decisions, it’s worth asking: how do AI workloads use GPUs? Read more from Frank Denneman.
The previous article covered GPU placement as part of the platform’s lifecycle, not just a scheduling step. These choices affect what the platform can handle as workloads evolve. Before making placement decisions, it’s worth asking: how do AI workloads use GPUs? […]
[Holodeck] – Troubleshooting VCF 9 Online Depot Connectivity in a Holodeck Environment – #vExpert Lorenzo Moglie
Issue: If you are deploying VMware Cloud Foundation 9 (VCF 9) within a Holodeck nested lab environment, you might hit a roadblock when trying to configure the Online Depot. […]
How vSphere GPU Modes and Assignment Policies Determine Host Level Placement – Frank Denneman
In the last article, we tracked a GPU-backed VM from resource configuration to host selection. DRS evaluated the cluster, Assignable Hardware filtered hosts for GPU compatibility, DRS ran its Goodness calculation, and picked a destination host. Now, the host is selected. But the placement is […]
How Same Size vGPU Mode and Right-sizing Shape GPU Placement Efficiency – Frank Denneman
Architecting AI Infrastructure – Part 5 In the previous article, we looked at how GPUs are placed within an ESXi host and how GPU modes and assignment policies determine which physical GPU a workload uses. These decisions impact more than just the initial placement of workloads. They also shape [..]
Quick Tip – Debugging “stuck” vSphere Supervisor being removed
Disabling or deactivating vSphere Supervisor can take some time depending on the number of resources you may have deployed, which all need to be properly cleaned up. In case the removal is taking longer than expected, there is not much information provided to the user in the vSphere UI. […]
When integrating a Microsoft Certificate Authority (CA) with VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Operations / Fleet Management in VCF 9.0, you may hit a frustrating blocker: the “Configure Certificate Authority for VCF Management” wizard fails with:
“Certificate authorities update failed”
This is documented in Broadcom KB 406901 and, importantly, it’s not always a connectivity or permissions problem—it can be a password character parsing issue.
In the Configure Certificate Authority for VCF Management wizard, the validation/update step fails with:
On the VCF Operations appliance, you’ll typically find a 401 Unauthorized in:
/var/log/vrlcm/vmware_vrlcm.logExample (as shown in the KB):
Exception occurred while trying to validate Microsoft CAHttpClientErrorException$Unauthorized: 401 Unauthorized401 - Unauthorized: Access is denied due to invalid credentials.At first glance, this looks like wrong credentials or insufficient permissions. But KB 406901 highlights a very specific trigger.
This is a known issue with special characters in the CA service account password, specifically:
# or &Even if the username/password are correct, the wizard’s CA validation request can fail in a way that surfaces as a 401 Unauthorized.
Change the Microsoft CA service account password to a value that does NOT contain:
#&Use a “safe” password character set (letters + numbers is the simplest) to avoid re-triggering the issue.
Go back to the Configure Certificate Authority for VCF Management wizard, enter the updated credentials, and run the validation/update again.
Mixed Size vGPU Mode in Practice – Frank Denneman
Architecting AI Infrastructure – Part 6: Last time, I looked at how Same Size vGPU mode works with different assignment policies and how right-sizing profiles can make placement more flexible. The main point was that both profile variety and assignment choices have a big impact on how much GPU [..]
