Title: Expedite Moving Your VMware vSphere Clusters to VMware Cloud Foundation

Managing both VMware vSphere and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) environments can be challenging. The platforms have different layers of software as well as automation, security, and lifecycle management differences. 
Moving your vSphere clusters to VCF can help you simplify operations and management. The key is to upgrade to VCF 5.2 first and then leverage the new vSphere Import capability to bring your existing vSphere environments over as VI workload domains. Here’s how VCF Professional Services can quickly upgrade VCF and import your vSphere clusters to get your environments consolidated faster.
Upgrading an existing VCF 4.5.x or 5.0.x environment is one of the key requirements to being able to import vSphere instances. The benefit here is that because SDDC Manager is already deployed and configured, this process is automated. Let’s get into the process to upgrade VCF.To begin the upgrade, we first download the new updated VCF 5.2 upgrade bundles into the depot from the Bundle Management interface in the Lifecycle Management section of SDDC Manager.
 
 The following bundles are typically required as listed in the Bill of Materials for the VCF 5.2 release:
Once the downloads are complete, the upgrade is then planned. We select the upgrade to 5.2 as the version. Once SDDC Manager has been configured to update to 5.2 we use the following process to execute it:
Now the upgrade of the SDDC Manager management domain is complete. If there are failures during any of the different upgrade processes, they will be noted in the SDDC Manager console, and we fix it and reinitiate the upgrade where applicable. This retry capability is one of my favorite functions of the VCF lifecycle management features. Once the management domain is on VCF 5.2 we are now able to initiate imports of vSphere. 
Before we can begin an import there are many different considerations which must be reviewed. These impose some restrictions on which configurations can be imported, as well as make sure that settings are defined properly prior to an import being allowed. The following showcases some of the ones I think are the most important:
Performing an import has five basic steps.  Let’s dig into some of the details of each of them.
Importing existing vSphere environments into VCF allows quick realization of value from built in functions of SDDC Manager, such as lifecycle management, and workflows for password and certificate management.      
This overview outlines the process we use for upgrading and importing to VCF and how it can be utilized effectively in an environment. Once SDDC Manager is in place the upgrade functions are by far my favorite feature of VCF, as they truly do expedite and automate complex upgrade scenarios.
VCF Professional Services can help you quickly upgrade to VCF 5.2 and seamlessly onboard your existing vSphere clusters into VCF. Ask your account rep how VCF Professional Services can help expedite your move and if you are eligible for complimentary assistance as part of your VCF or vSphere investment.
Jonathan McDonald is a Senior Staff Architect on the VCF Portfolio Services Engineering team and has been with VMware since 2005. His area of focus is with the VMware Cloud…

Source: [[0]](https://blogs.vmware.com/professional-services/2024/09/expedite-moving-your-vmware-vsphere-clusters-to-vmware-cloud-foundation.html)


Title: Introduction to the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Import Tool

The following blog provides an overview of the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Import Tool that was introduced with VCF 5.2.  The VCF Import Tool enables vSphere Administrators to easily convert existing vSphere and vSAN infrastructure to a Cloud Foundation Private Cloud.   More information about the VCF Import Tool can be found in the Cloud Foundation Administrators Guide.
Introduction to the VCF Import Tool
VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 introduces a new CLI tool, referred to as the “VCF Import Tool”, to convert or import existing vSphere environments that are not currently managed by the SDDC Manager into a VMware Cloud Foundation private cloud.  Feel free to check out this 6-minute video to see a demo of the VCF Import Tool in action.
The VCF Import tool enables customers to expedite their move to a modern private cloud by enabling them to quickly implement Cloud Foundation directly on top of their existing vSphere infrastructure.  There is no requirement to purchase new hardware, go through a complex deployment, or have to migrate workloads.  You simply deploy the SDDC Manager to an existing vSphere cluster and use the import tool to convert it to a Cloud Foundation private cloud.
Importing your existing vSphere infrastructure into a VCF private cloud is non-disruptive as it is transparent to the running workloads.   At a high level the process entails scanning the vCenter inventory to ensure compatibility with VCF and then registering the vCenter Server, and its associated inventory, with the SDDC manager.  The registered vCenter Server instances become VCF workload domains that can be centrally managed and lifecycled from the SDDC Manager as part of a VMware private cloud.  Once added to the Cloud Foundation inventory, all the available SDDC Manager operations are available to manage the converted/imported domain.  This includes expanding the domains by adding new hosts and clusters as well applying software updates and upgrades.     
Overview of the VCF Import Tool
There are two ways to get started with using the VCF Import Tool.  
Note that in addition to importing and converting vSphere environments into VCF as workload domains, the VCF import tool can also be used to deploy NSX into a converted or imported domain.   This can be done at the time you do the convert/import, or as a ‘day-2’ operation run any time after the environment has been added as a workload domain.   Also, the import tool includes a ‘sync’ feature that allows you to manage configuration drift between the vCenter Server and SDDC manager. More information about these features is discussed below.  
Requirements for using the VCF Import Tool
To get started with using the VCF Import Tool there are several requirements that must be met.  The requirements vary depending if you are converting an existing vSphere environment into a VCF management domain or importing an existing vSphere environment as a Virtual Infrastructure (VI) domain.  I’ll begin by going over the requirements that are unique to converting a VCF Management Domain.  I’ll then go over the requirements that are common for both the convert and import use-case.
Note: the requirements and limitations noted in this blog are based on the initial release of the VCF Import Tool available with VCF 5.2.  Be sure to check the release notes to see if these limitations are still applicable for the version of VCF you are using.
Requirements for converting a vSphere cluster to a VCF Management Domain
 To convert an existing vSphere environment into a VCF management domain there are two requirements that you need to be aware of.  
Requirements for importing a vSphere cluster to a VCF VI Domain

Source: [[1]](https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud-foundation/2024/09/11/introduction-to-the-vmware-cloud-foundation-vcf-import-tool/)


Title: vrcloud24x7: Maximize Efficiency: Importing and Converting Brownfield ...

As enterprises evolve, integrating legacy environments with modern cloud infrastructure becomes crucial. VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.2 introduces a powerful tool for importing existing brownfield environments. The Import CLI tool facilitates seamless integration by converting your vSphere and vSAN clusters into VCF-managed domains, without impacting existing workloads.
This blog will guide you through the step-by-step process, from pre-checks to the final sync, ensuring a smooth integration of your vSphere and vSAN clusters.
What is the
Import CLI Tool?
The Import CLI
Tool is a powerful utility designed to facilitate the smooth integration of
brownfield environments—those with existing infrastructure—into VMware Cloud
Foundation 5.2. Unlike greenfield environments, which are built from scratch,
brownfield environments often come with legacy components, configurations, and
various storage solutions. Importing these into VCF can be complex, but the
Import CLI Tool simplifies this process.
The tool can be
downloaded from the Broadcom Portal, and once retrieved, it needs to be
unzipped or untarred on the SDDC Manager Appliance. It is important to
note that this tool is not included in the SDDC Manager OVA file, so
you’ll need to fetch it separately from the Broadcom Portal. The downloaded
package contains a set of Python scripts specifically built to help manage the
import process.
Import
Capabilities
The Import CLI
Tool supports the integration of both vSphere Clusters and vSAN
Clusters into your VCF environment. This allows for a streamlined and
automated approach to ingesting clusters from existing infrastructure into a
VCF-managed stack. Notably, while vSAN integration is supported, it is not
mandatory for existing environments. You can leverage alternative storage
solutions such as:
This
flexibility allows organizations to continue using their existing storage
configurations, whether on SAN, NAS, or vSAN, ensuring smooth integration with
minimal disruption.
Key Features
of the Import CLI Tool
The Import CLI
Tool offers four primary functionalities to ensure a smooth transition of
brownfield environments into VCF:
PreCheck
The PreCheck
feature is an integral part of the Import CLI Tool, designed to perform
extensive checks before initiating the Convert or Import processes. This
feature conducts 174 comprehensive checks against the existing vCenter
infrastructure to verify the topology’s readiness for VMware Cloud Foundation
5.2.
The PreCheck
provides a detailed output highlighting any pre-requirements that need to be
addressed before proceeding. If any checks fail, administrators must fix the
identified issues based on VCF 5.2 requirements. Some of the common issues
flagged during PreCheck include:
Resolving these
issues upfront ensures a smoother conversion and import process, mitigating the
risk of errors or failures during the transition.
Sample
PreCheck Command:
python3
vcf_brownfield.py check --vcenter 'example.vc01.Vmware.lab--sso-user 'administrator@vsphere.local'
--sso-password 'VM1!' --vcenter-root-password 'VM2!' --domain-name 'mgmt-domain'
--backup-password 'VM3!' --local-admin-password 'VM1!VM2!'
--skip-nsx-deployment
Note: Passwords do not need to be included
directly in the command line. If not provided, the tool will prompt for them
securely during execution.
 
Convert
The Convert
feature in the Import CLI Tool allows the conversion of an existing vSphere
instance into a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Management Domain. This requires
an SDDC Manager to manage the transition process. If an existing SDDC
Manager is available, it can be used to convert the vSphere vCenter Server into
a VCF Management Domain. If there is no SDDC Manager in place, one must be
installed and configured before proceeding.
The conversion
process creates a new VCF Management Domain using the existing vSphere
infrastructure. NSX is not mandatory during this process. However,
customers who wish to enable or install NSX Manager during the conversion or
import can do so. Alternatively, NSX deployment can be postponed to Day 2
operations. While future VCF releases might make NSX mandatory, it remains
optional in VCF 5.2.
One key
advantage of the Convert process is that it does not impact existing workloads.

Source: [[2]](https://www.vrcloud24x7.com/2024/10/maximize-efficiency-importing-and.html)


Title: VCF in your Home Lab - Updated for VCF 5.2 - virtual graveyard

VCF in your Home Lab – Updated for VCF 5.2 – Matt Adam
VCF 5.2 was released for GA a few days ago. I wanted to make sure I provided an update post with some of the changes I’ve made for the lab, and the json manifest. Software Versions used in this demo Update to Blog post Please see the primary VCF deployment blog post. I explain […]
Broadcom Social Media Advocacy
Zeige alle Beiträge von Daniel
Allgemein
Δ

Source: [[3]](https://virtual-graveyard.com/2024/07/31/vcf-in-your-home-lab-updated-for-vcf-5-2/)


Title: Exciting new enhancements for VCF, vSphere and NSX!

vCloud Vision
Earlier this week I have had the opportunity to listen to the new enhancements announced today for the VMware products VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), vSphere and NSX! In this blogpost I will highlight the most important parts that apply to my day to day work and and view my own opinion on these new updates in the products. I did something similar a long time ago with the release of vSphere 7 back in 2020!
Today will mark the first time in VMware (Now Broadcom) history that all of the product lines in the VCF Bill of Material (BOM) release at the same time. It’s almost a company wide and a massive release with a new version for VCF, vSphere, vSAN, NSX, SDDC Manager and the Aria Suite. This is pretty significant, because in earlier days not every product was well aligned to the others in the BOM. Now without further delay, let’s start!
If you want to skip to certain parts, please feel free to use the below index:
So the first big thing in this release is the option to import ‘brownfield’ existing environments into SDDC Manager to provide SDDC based automation on these environments with VCF Import:
There are two possibilities to use this:
There are two things to take into account because not every topology is supported:
The ‘big’ thing I found was that starting from VCF 5.2 the SDDC Manager is no longer connected to the entire BOM while talking about Lifecycle Management fro the VCF environment. This update will make everything a lot more flexible and creates a possiblity to independently update SDDC Manager as new releases become available.
Last but not least, VMware has expanded their Edge capabilities in VCF by introducing a new SKU (smaller increments 16 up to 256 cores per Edge) compared to the previous expensive SKU. You can deploy Compute only nodes, but also deploy small vSAN clusters on the Edge to take these new licences to deploy what you need on the Edge in a more scalable way. Several new topologies are available now to complement most of the use cases that are out there for the Edge.
And to round up the new VCF release there are a couple more smaller (for me) updates such as:
Let’s start this section of by saying that there is a new product name change from vSphere with Tanzu to vSphere IaaS Control Plane! So if you come across anything that mentions vSphere IaaS Control Plane, this is related to everything that is connected to Tanzu from now on. Discussing the Tanzu part, it seems that VMware is also decoupling the TKG service from the vCenter Server and implementing it as a Core Supervisor Service to provide the ability to deliver asynchronously releases for the TKG service. Just as with the SDDC Manager, this allows you to upgrade it independently from vCenter Server upgrades in your infrastructure and provides you with a bit more flexibility and a way to deliver new Kubernetes versions more quickly.
Next up is Autoscaling for Kubernetes clusters! With this release it is possible to now autoscale worker nodes, scale up when required, scale down when the environment is underutilized. All can be done with the ‘cluster-autoscaler’ package. A note to know; the minimum version required is 1.25.
vSAN stretched Cluster is now also supported for vSphere IaaS Control Plane (vSphere with Tanzu)! This was a much requested feature for many customers. With this new options you can use vSAN Stretched clusters to host your (Supervisor) Control Plane VM’s.
Other smaller updates to vSphere IaaS Control Plan:

Source: [[4]](https://vcloudvision.com/2024/06/25/exciting-new-enhancements-for-vcf-vsphere-and-nsx/)


Instruction: Using the provided web search results, to write a comprehensive reply to the user request.
Make sure to add the sources of cites using [[Number]](Url) notation after the reference. Example: [[0]](http://google.com)

User request:
how to enable enhanced linked mode in VCF 5.2