VCF Brownfield Import: Features and Enhancements

VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.1.1 introduces exciting new features to streamline brownfield deployments:

• Shared vSphere Distributed Switches (vDS): Seamless import of vSphere clusters using shared vDS.
• LACP Support: Clusters with Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) enabled can now be imported.
• Mixed Environments: Support for importing vSphere environments using a combination of vLCM Images and Baselines.
• Enhanced Guardrails: Relaxed guardrails for vSphere Standard Switches and standalone hosts.

VCF Convert vs. Import

Convert

Convert existing vSphere infrastructure to the VMware Cloud Foundation management domain when no SDDC Manager exists.

Import

Import existing vSphere infrastructure as VI workload domains when SDDC Manager is already deployed.

Pre-Requisites for VCF Brownfield Import

VCF 5.2 Requirements

• Management Domain:
  • vCenter Server Appliance: 8.0 Update 3 or later
  • ESXi: 8.0 Update 3a or later
• Minimum Nodes:
  • 4 Nodes for the Management Domain
  • Supported storage: vSAN, NFS, or VMFS-FC
• Networking:
  • vSphere Distributed Switches (vDS) only
  • Minimum 2 physical uplinks per host (10Gb each)
  • LACP not supported
  • Dedicated vDS for each cluster

VCF 5.2.1.x Requirements

• Management Domain:
  • vCenter Server Appliance: 8.0 Update 3c or later
  • ESXi: 8.0 Update 3b or later
• Minimum Nodes for Management Domain Conversion:
  • vSAN: vLCM image clusters need at least 3 nodes; baseline clusters require 2 nodes.
  • NFS or FC: Image clusters require 2 nodes; baseline clusters need 4 nodes.
• Networking:
  • Hosts can have varying numbers of physical uplinks (minimum 2, 10Gb each)
  • Shared vDS supported

Common Requirements

• VI Workload Domain:
  • vCenter Server Appliance: 7.0 Update 3h or later
  • ESXi: 7.0 Update 3g or later
• Supported Storage: vSAN, NFS v3, VMFS-FC
• Minimum Nodes:
  • 3 nodes for vSAN
  • 2 nodes for NFS or FC storage clusters
• Networking:
  • Dedicated vMotion network
  • vSphere Distributed Switch teaming policies must follow VMware Cloud Foundation standards (Route based on physical NIC load).

Critical Considerations Before Conversion/Import

1. SSO Domain: Ensure a single vCenter Server per SSO domain. Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) is not supported.
2. vSAN Compression: Compression-only mode (OSA) is unsupported; enable deduplication and compression together.
3. vCenter Co-location: vCenter must be co-located for VCF conversion.
4. NSX Registrations: Existing NSX-registered vCenters are not supported for import.
5. VMkernel IPs: Use statically assigned VMkernel IPs.
6. Unsupported Configurations:
   • Multiple VMkernels for a single traffic type (e.g., vSAN, vMotion).
   • VxRail-managed clusters.

Scenarios Requiring VCF Import Tool 5.2.1.x

Use the VCF Import Tool with SDDC Manager 5.2.1.1 for these scenarios. For additional help, visit our VCF Administration Guide:

• vCenter with standalone hosts
• vCenter with a single host in a cluster
• Mixed vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) images and baseline clusters
• Hosts with both standard and distributed switches

Software Downloads

Retrieve the following software from the Broadcom Support portal. Explore more details in our VMware Cloud Foundation Knowledge Base.

VCF 5.2

• VCF SDDC Manager Appliance: VCF-SDDC-Manager-Appliance-5.2.0.0-24108943.ova
• VCF Import Tool: vcf-brownfield-import-5.2.0.0-24108578.tar.gz
• VMware Software Install Bundle – NSX_T_MANAGER 4.2.0.0: bundle-124941.zip

VCF 5.2.1.1

• VCF SDDC Manager Appliance: VCF-SDDC-Manager-Appliance-5.2.1.1-24397777.ova
• VCF Import Tool: vcf-brownfield-import-5.2.1.2-24494579.tar.gz
• VMware Software Install Bundle – NSX_T_MANAGER 4.2.1.0: bundle-133764.zip

By following this guide, you can effectively leverage VMware Cloud Foundation’s latest features for seamless brownfield environment imports. For more information, refer to the official VMware documentation.