There is no need to wait to deploy VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Operation 9 if you are running vSphere 8. It is optional with version 8, but required for version 9 so you might as well deploy it now if you are entitled to it through your subscription. VCF Operations provides many benefits to vSphere environments such as...
- AI-Assisted Diagnostics: Features enhanced "Diagnostic Findings" to proactively identify misconfigurations and risks before they cause downtime.
- NVMe Memory Tiering Visibility: Monitoring vSphere 8’s NVMe-based memory tiering, helping admins optimize DRAM vs. NVMe cost/performance ratios.
- Direct Support Integration: Enables administrators to generate log bundles and attach them directly to Broadcom Support cases from within the Operations console.
- Unified License Management: Unified license key management for the VCF subscription model, synchronizing entitlements across vCenter and ESXi 8.x hosts.
- Sustainable Infrastructure Metrics: Advanced reporting on power consumption and carbon footprint, mapped to specific vSphere clusters and workloads to meet green-IT initiatives.
Deployment
Start by downloading the VMware Cloud Foundation Operations .ova file from the VMware Cloud Foundation downloads section of the Broadcom Support Portal. The name of the file will be like this: Operations-Appliance-9.x.x.x.xxxxxxxx.ova where the x's are various numbers depending on the version you download.
Deploy the .ova file in your vCenter 8 environment. Note that you will need to decide on a root password, DNS information, and IP configuration for the Operations appliance. You will be prompted for these during the .ova deployment process. Power on the Operations appliance after the deployment is complete. It might take several minutes for the appliance to fully boot and complete the automated post-deployment configuration. Be patient.
Open a web browser and point to the admin URL of the new Operations appliance.
https://<ip address or fqdn>/admin
Enter admin for the username and the password you set during the .ova deployment. You should see a Get Started page after you log in. The Express Installation option will be fine for most environments.
This installation step can take several minutes. Be patient and wait for the appliance to initialize. You will then start VCF Operations by clicking the button.
Starting VCF Operations will take a few minutes. The Cluster Status will show "Online" when the startup is complete.
Configuration
The next step is logging into the VCF Operations UI.
https://<ip address or fqdn>/ui
Select Local Account for the Login Method, admin for the username, and the admin password.
On the Home page, you will add a vCenter account.
Provide the details to authenticate with your vCenter and validate the connection. Ensure the Activate checkbox is checked.
Do the same for vSAN if you are running vSAN in your environment.
You will likely seen Account Monitoring Notification, which tells you monitoring will not start automatically. Check the box to acknowledge and click OK.
Back on the Home screen, click Administration > Integrations. Expand the vCenter list. You should see your newly-added vCenter. The status will likely show "Stopped."
Click the three dots and click Start Collecting All.
It might take some time for this startup to complete. You should eventually see "Collecting" in the Status column.
Adding vCenter to a VCF Operations instance installs a plugin for the vSphere Client. You might be prompted to refresh the vSphere Client to enable the plugin.
Finally, we need to license VCF Operations. It includes a 90-day evaluation license. Be sure to properly license VCF Operations before the end of the 90-day evaluation period.
VCF 9 licensing is significantly different than vSphere 8. You must first register VCF Operations with Broadcom. This can be done in connected or disconnected mode.
Start with this blog article and documentation for more details about VCF 9 licensing.
You can now benefit from some of the features of VCF Operations 9. You'll unlock many more features and benefits when you upgrade your environment from vSphere 8 to VCF 9!
