Tag: 9.0

With the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, Aria Operations for Logs has officially been rebranded as VCF Operations for Logs. However, if you were expecting a simple in-place upgrade, there’s an important caveat: no direct in-place upgrade is supported.

Instead, administrators must deploy VCF Ops for Logs 9.0 as a fresh installation and gradually migrate integrations and data sources from their existing Aria Ops for Logs 8.18.x environment.

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Why No In-Place Upgrade?

VMware Aria Operations for Logs version 8.18.x does not support an in-place upgrade path to version 9.0. The architectural and platform changes introduced in VCF 9.0 require a clean deployment.

This means that if you are currently running Aria Ops for Logs 8.18.3, you cannot simply apply an upgrade package. Instead, both versions must temporarily coexist while you complete the transition.

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Recommended Migration Approach

Broadcom’s official upgrade guidance outlines the following steps:

1. Deploy VCF Ops for Logs 9.0
   • Set up a fresh instance of VCF Ops for Logs in your environment.
   • Follow the prerequisites and deployment guidelines in the VCF 9.0 Management Component Upgrade Guide.
2. Unconfigure Integrations from 8.18.3
   • Keep your Aria Ops for Logs 8.18.3 instance online, but start unconfiguring existing integrations.
   • This ensures that historical log data remains accessible, even though new logs will be directed elsewhere.
3. Reconfigure Integrations on 9.0
   • Point all your log sources, agents, and integrations to the new VCF Ops for Logs 9.0 instance.
   • Validate ingestion pipelines to confirm that logs are flowing properly.
4. Leverage Log Transfer if Needed
   • Broadcom provides guidance for log transfer, allowing you to move log data from the old environment to the new one.
5. Decommission the Old Instance
   • Once all integrations and data have been verified in the new platform, you can safely retire your 8.18.3 deployment.

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Key Takeaways

• Rebrand Only in Name? Not Quite. While the product name has changed from Aria Ops for Logs to VCF Ops for Logs, the lack of in-place upgrade means the transition is more than cosmetic.
• Parallel Operations Are Required. You’ll need to run 8.18.3 and 9.0 side by side during the migration phase.
• Fresh Deployment Is Mandatory. Treat this as a new installation rather than an upgrade.
• Plan for Migration Effort. Reconfiguring all integrations and log sources can be time-intensive, so schedule accordingly.

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Summary

If your organization relies heavily on VMware Aria Operations for Logs today, be prepared for a stepwise migration process rather than a straightforward upgrade. By planning the deployment of VCF Ops for Logs 9.0 carefully—and keeping the old instance online for historical data—you can ensure a smooth transition without losing valuable log visibility.

For more details, consult Broadcom’s official documentation:

• Upgrade Guidance for Aria Operations for Logs
• VCF 9.0 Management Component Upgrade Guide

The vSphere Cluster Services (vCLS) are a critical part of maintaining cluster features like vSphere DRS and HA in your VMware environment. But there might be scenarios where you need to disable vCLS on a cluster — for example, for troubleshooting or special configurations. This is where Retreat Mode comes in.

In this post, you’ll learn:

• What Retreat Mode is
• The impact of using it
• How to enable or disable it safely across different vSphere versions

📌 What is vCLS and Retreat Mode?

vCLS deploys lightweight agent VMs in every vSphere cluster to maintain cluster services. Without these VMs, some services like vSphere DRS and HA cannot function properly in vSphere versions prior to 9.0.

Retreat Mode is a way to tell vCenter: “Stop running vCLS VMs on this cluster.” This disables vCLS for that cluster — but at a cost.

👉 Good news:
Starting with vSphere 9.0, you can disable vCLS without losing DRS or HA functionality!

👉 Important for older versions:
In versions before vSphere 9.0, disabling vCLS means DRS will stop working and HA placement will be suboptimal. Also, vSAN cluster health might show as degraded.

⚠️ Risks and Impacts of Retreat Mode

If you enter Retreat Mode on a cluster:

• ✅ vCLS VMs will be removed
• ❌ DRS will stop balancing workloads automatically
• ❌ HA can still restart VMs, but may pick less optimal hosts
• ❌ vSAN cluster health may show “Degraded”

Use Retreat Mode only when absolutely necessary.

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🛠️ How to Enable Retreat Mode

✅ vSphere 7.0 U3o, 8.0 U2, and Later

VMware has made this easy in recent updates:

1. Log in to the vSphere HTML5 Client.
2. Go to Hosts and Clusters.
3. Select your cluster.
4. Click the Configure tab.
5. Under vSphere Cluster Services, click General.
6. Click EDIT VCLS MODE (top right).
7. Select Retreat Mode and click OK.

Done! The vCLS VMs will be cleaned up automatically.

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✅ Older Versions (before 7.0 U3o / 8.0 U2)

This takes a few extra steps:

1️⃣ Log in to vSphere Client.
2️⃣ Go to your cluster and copy its domain ID from the URL. Example:

domain-c1006

⚠️ Only use the domain-c<number>! Using the wrong ID can break vCenter.

3️⃣ In the vCenter Server, go to Configure → Advanced Settings → Edit Settings.

4️⃣ Add a new setting:

Name:  config.vcls.clusters.domain-c<number>.enabled  
Value: False

5️⃣ Click Save.

👉 vCLS VMs will be cleaned up automatically.

6️⃣ To re-enable, set the value back to True.

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✅ Using CLI or API

You can also bulk manage Retreat Mode using the provided Python script:

python retreatModeConfiguration.py -r disable

or

python retreatModeConfiguration.py -r enable

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🔍 How to Identify vCLS VMs

vCLS VMs are named:

vCLS (1), vCLS (2), ...

They are found under a special vCLS folder in VMs and Templates view.

You can also confirm using vSphere Managed Object Browser (MOB):

https://<vCenter_IP>/mob/?moid=vm-1004&doPath=config.managedBy

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✅Sumarry

• vSphere 9.0+: You can disable vCLS safely — DRS and HA won’t be affected.
• Earlier versions: Retreat Mode disables vCLS and disables DRS! Be sure you understand the impact.

Use Retreat Mode responsibly and always monitor your cluster health after making changes.

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👉 For full details, check out the official KB: Disable vCLS on a Cluster via Retreat Mode (KB 316514)

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If you’re planning an upgrade to VMware vSphere 9.0 or just exploring which edition is the right fit for your organization, here’s a clear overview straight from the official vSphere 9.0 Product Line Comparison PDF.

In version 9.0, VMware shifts its focus:

• The traditional vSphere Standard and vSphere Enterprise Plus editions are only available up to version 8 Update 3.
• vSphere 9.0 capabilities are now exclusively packaged as part of VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0 and VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.

This means new features and innovations, especially around Kubernetes integration, AI services, advanced storage architectures, and modern cloud operations, require the Foundation or Cloud Foundation bundles.

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📊 Full Feature Comparison Table (Extracted and Formatted)

Below is a condensed and formatted table showing a selection of key features across the three product lines:

Feature	vSphere Standard	vSphere Enterprise Plus	vSphere Foundation 9.0
vCenter Edition	Standard	Standard	Standard
vCenter Lifecycle Management Service	✔	✔	✔
Kubernetes Runtime & Supervisor Services	–	–	✔
VM Service, Storage Service, Network Service	–	–	✔
vSphere Lifecycle Manager	✔	✔	✔
Live Patching for ESX	✔	✔	✔
vCenter Server Profiles & Update Planner	✔	✔	✔
Host Profiles & Auto Deploy	–	✔	✔
Green Metrics	✔	✔	✔
Identity Federation	✔	✔	✔
Hardware TPM 2.0 Support	✔	✔	✔
Virtual TPM 2.0	✔	✔	✔
TLS 1.2 / 1.3	✔ / ✔	✔ / ✔	✔ / ✔
Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)	–	✔	✔
Instant Clone & Per-VM EVC	–	✔	✔
NVIDIA GRID vGPU	–	✔	✔
Dynamic DirectPath IO	✔	✔	✔
vMotion & Cross-vCenter vMotion	✔	✔	✔
High Availability (HA)	✔	✔	✔
Fault Tolerance	✔ (2 vCPU only)	✔	✔
vSphere Replication & Storage vMotion	✔	✔	✔
vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA)	–	–	✔
vSAN Original Storage Architecture (OSA)	–	–	✔
Advanced Data Services (Compression, Encryption)	–	–	✔
External Storage (VMFS, vVols, NFS)	✔	✔	✔
vSphere Distributed Switch	–	✔	✔
Container Networking with Antrea	–	–	✔
VCF Operations: Monitoring, Logs, Compliance	–	–	✔
AI Services & Data Services	–	–	✔
Policy-based Governance & Workload Lifecycle Management	–	✔	✔

(✔ means feature included; – means not included)

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🔑 Summary

• vSphere Standard → Ideal for small deployments with core virtualization needs.

• vSphere Enterprise Plus → Full suite for automation, DRS, and powerful resource scheduling, but limited to version 8.

• vSphere Foundation 9.0 → Next-gen features including Kubernetes, AI services, advanced storage architectures, compliance management, and tight integration with Cloud Foundation.

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• Official VMware vSphere 9.0 Product Line Comparison PDF (2025)

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.

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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.

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📚 Lab Modules at a Glance

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.

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⚙️ Module 1: vSphere Supervisor Concepts and Components

✅ What is vSphere Supervisor?

vSphere Supervisor introduces a declarative Kubernetes control plane natively into your vSphere cluster. This means your cluster can now run:

• VMs via the VM Service
• Kubernetes Pods directly on ESXi hosts (as vSphere Pods)
• Full upstream Kubernetes clusters using vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS)

This hybrid model enables a consistent cloud-like experience for both traditional and modern workloads.

🔑 Key Components

• vSphere Zone: Logical boundary to provide high availability. Clusters are mapped to Zones for resilience against failures.
• vSphere Namespace: Think of it as a resource pool with policy-based limits (CPU, memory, storage) for workloads. It maps to Kubernetes namespaces but adds vSphere-specific governance.
• Supervisor Networking: Uses either vSphere networking or NSX. Load balancers ensure external access for workloads.
• Supervisor Storage: Utilizes storage policies to manage placement for VMs, Pods, persistent volumes, and container images.

🧩 Extensible Services

vSphere Supervisor comes with base services like:

• VM Service
• Kubernetes Service
• Velero for backup

Additional services (like Grafana, Harbor, DNS, and vDPP) can be installed modularly to enhance the Supervisor’s capabilities.

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🛠️ Module 2: Enabling and Configuring vSphere Supervisor

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.

⚡ Key Steps:

🔑 1️⃣ Prerequisites

• Prepare clusters with vSAN or shared storage.
• Define storage policies for control plane, VMs, Pods, and VKS clusters.

🔑 2️⃣ Enable vSphere Supervisor

• Connect to the Management vCenter.
• Create vSphere Zones for high availability.
• Use the wizard to configure networking (NSX or vSphere stack), management network, and workload network.
• Select control plane size and storage policy.

(Note: The lab walks through these steps but does not deploy a live Supervisor due to time constraints.)

🔑 3️⃣ Deploy & Configure a Namespace

• Create a new Namespace and bind it to the Supervisor.
• Assign VM Classes (defining VM sizing options).
• Attach storage policies for workloads.
• Create and associate a Content Library to provide VM templates.

🔑 4️⃣ Deploy Workloads

• Deploy a VM using the VM Service and Consumption Interface.
• Attach persistent storage and a Load Balancer.
• Deploy a Kubernetes cluster (VKS) by specifying node pools and cluster config.
• Validate external access via network service cards.

🔑 5️⃣ Add Services

• Expand functionality by uploading YAMLs to register services like Grafana, Harbor, etc.

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🎓 Summary

✔️ 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.

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.

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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.

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🗂️ Module 1: What’s New in vSphere 9 Overview

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.

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🔄 Module 2: vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) – Parallel Remediation

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.

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⚙️ Module 3: Resource Management — Enhanced DRS, vMMR, CPU Topology, and Latency

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.

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🧩 Module 4: Guest OS and 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.

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🤝 Module 5: Mixed Vendor Clusters

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.

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🔄 Module 6: Live Patch

Zero downtime patching is here:

⏱️ Live Patch — Apply updates to ESXi hosts without reboots or maintenance mode. Improve security posture while keeping workloads running.

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🧮 Module 7: Introduction to Memory Tiering

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.

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🔑 Module 8: vSphere Licensing and Operations

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.

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.

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Below is a deep dive into each module so you know exactly what to expect.

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📊 Module 1: Monitoring Private Cloud Infrastructure with Diagnostic Findings and VCF Health

Kick off by mastering the new Diagnostic Findings and VCF Health tools.

• Diagnostic Findings offers real-time checks for security advisories (VMSAs), vulnerabilities (CVEs), and best practice deviations. It categorizes issues as Critical, Immediate, or Warning and includes easy links to relevant KB articles.
• VCF Health gives you a clear, unified view of the entire environment—instances, vCenters, clusters, hosts, and NSX. You can quickly pinpoint trouble spots and drill down into domains and specific components.
• Use powerful filters, historical findings, and export features to stay on top of the operational state of your cloud.

🔑 Takeaway: Get proactive issue detection and a health dashboard for streamlined troubleshooting.

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🌐 Module 2: Monitoring Network Operations

The new Network Operations Dashboard integrates NSX and vSphere network monitoring right into VCF Operations—no more jumping between consoles!

• View the network inventory at a glance: NSX Instances, Edge Clusters, Transport Nodes, and more.
• Check out NSX Health, analyze business application flows, and dig into traffic patterns.
• Use the interactive vSphere Network Inventory to see object relationships visually, expand views, and trace connections down to distributed virtual switches.

🔑 Takeaway: Gain deep insights into your network’s health, traffic, and relationships—all in one place.

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🗄️ Module 3: Monitoring Storage Operations

Next, manage your storage like a pro:

• The Storage Operations Dashboard centralizes monitoring for vSAN and non-vSAN datastores.
• Analyze storage alerts, usage trends, capacity distribution, and performance.
• Dive into vSAN Clusters to see detailed configurations, efficiency metrics, and IOPS data.

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.

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🔒 Module 4: Monitoring Security Operations

Security is a top priority in VCF 9.0—and the new Security Operations Dashboard puts control at your fingertips:

• User Security: Track authentication activity, failed logins, and permission changes with detailed dashboards.
• Infrastructure Security: Review host encryption status, vSAN cluster encryption, advisories, certificate health, and VM encryption in one unified view.
• Use intuitive widgets and drill-down dashboards to manage compliance and spot risks fast.

🔑 Takeaway: Unified, real-time visibility into user actions and infrastructure security helps you strengthen compliance and reduce vulnerabilities.

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💸 Module 5: Chargeback and Billing

Finally, master cost transparency and control:

• Explore the enhanced Chargeback and Billing capabilities integrated into the unified operations console.
• Dashboards let you view chargeback summaries by organizations, projects, region quotas, and running workloads.
• Generate and manage bills seamlessly, and preview tenant-facing billing interfaces for greater transparency.

🔑 Takeaway: Simplify financial operations and ensure tenants have clear insights into their cloud usage and costs.

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✅Summary

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Operations introduces robust, integrated monitoring and management tools designed to:

• Unify health checks, diagnostics, and security monitoring
• Provide actionable insights across infrastructure, network, storage, and user activity
• Streamline chargeback and billing for clearer financial accountability