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VCF 9 Deployment Guide

Management Domain Deployment

VCF 9 Management Domain Deployment

Management Domain Components

The management domain hosts all core VCF management infrastructure:

  • SDDC Manager - Central lifecycle and configuration management (being deprecated in future releases)
  • vCenter Server - Virtual infrastructure management
  • NSX Manager - Network virtualization (single or 3-node cluster for HA)
  • VCF Operations - Day 2 operations and monitoring (MANDATORY in VCF 9)
  • VCF Operations Fleet Management - Lifecycle management for Aria components
  • VCF Operations Collector - Data collection for monitoring
  • VCF Automation - Infrastructure automation (MANDATORY in VCF 9)
  • VCF Identity Broker (VIDB) - New identity management component in VCF 9

Deployment Models:

  • Simple Model: Minimum 7 appliances (single instance of each component)
  • High Availability Model: Minimum 13 appliances (3x NSX Manager, 3x VCF Operations nodes)

Deployment Prerequisites

Infrastructure Requirements:

  • DNS: Forward and reverse records for all FQDNs (critical - many failures due to missing records)
  • NTP: Time synchronization server accessible by all components
  • Licensing: 90-day evaluation mode, license required within first 90 days

Network VLANs/Subnets Required:

  • Management VLAN - Core management components
  • VM Management VLAN - Tenant/VM workloads
  • vMotion VLAN - VM mobility between hosts
  • vSAN VLAN - Storage traffic (if using vSAN)
  • Host TEPs VLAN - NSX Tunnel Endpoints

Software Requirements:

  • Download deployment binaries from Broadcom (vCenter, ESXi, NSX, SDDC Manager)
  • VCF Installer appliance deployed and powered on
  • VCF Planning and Preparation Workbook completed

Deployment Steps

1. Deploy VCF Installer Appliance

  • Replaces Cloud Builder from previous versions
  • UI-driven workflow (no Excel workbook required)

2. Download Required Binaries

  • Use VCF Installer UI to download vCenter, ESXi, NSX, SDDC Manager components

3. Configure Deployment Parameters

  • Network settings, credentials, storage configuration
  • Select deployment model (Simple or HA)

4. Initiate Management Domain Bring-up

  • VCF Installer deploys all management components automatically
  • Deploys ESXi hosts, vCenter, NSX, SDDC Manager
  • Deploys VCF Operations and VCF Automation (mandatory)

5. VCF Operations Role (NEW in VCF 9)

  • SDDC Manager UI being deprecated
  • Workload domain creation now done through VCF Operations
  • Day 2 operations shifted to vCenter and VCF Operations

Post-Deployment Validation

Health Check Commands:

ssh vcf@sddc-manager
su -
cd /opt/vmware/sddc-support
./sos --health-check --domain-name ALL --skip-cert-check

Verification Checklist:

  • Verify all management VMs powered on and healthy
  • Check vCenter connectivity and cluster status
  • Validate NSX Manager cluster formation
  • Confirm VCF Operations data collection working
  • Test VCF Automation login and node health
  • Verify DNS resolution for all components
  • Check NTP synchronization across all hosts

Recommended Testing:

  • Performance benchmarking
  • Failover scenarios for HA components
  • Storage reliability tests
  • Network connectivity validation
  • Full disaster recovery drills

Sizing Recommendations

Minimum Host Requirements:

  • vSAN Storage: 3 ESXi hosts minimum (4 recommended for production)
  • External Storage (NFS/FC): 2 ESXi hosts minimum

Host Resource Guidelines:

  • CPU: Size by physical cores, not logical cores (SMT does not equal 2x performance)
  • CPU overcommit ratio: Keep vCPU:pCPU at 2:1 or less
  • Memory: 32 GB minimum per host for vSAN disk groups
  • Memory: ~72 GB RAM per host for lab/nested deployments
  • Admission control: Set to N+1 for failover capacity

VCF Automation Requirements:

  • Initial: 24 vCPUs, 96 GB RAM
  • Post-deployment: Can reduce to 16 vCPUs (RAM must stay at 96 GB)
  • Small form factor: 1 VIP + 2 cluster node IPs

Storage Options:

  • vSAN OSA/ESA (minimum 3 hosts)
  • NFS (minimum 2 hosts)
  • Fibre Channel VMFS (minimum 2 hosts)

Sources