VCF LOG Deployment changed in 9.1.0.400

Since VCF 9.1.0.400, a lot has changed in the platform and one of the more noticeable shifts is how log management works. It is no longer a standalone virtual appliance.

Instead, it now runs as a service inside the VCF Management Services Cluster, the same Kubernetes-based runtime that also hosts Fleet Management and the other core management components.

Additionally, in this blog I walk through how to deploy VCF Log Management in 9.1.0.400.

What Changed

In VCF 9.0 and earlier, Log Management (formerly Aria Operations for Logs) was deployed as its own appliance VM or appliance cluster. Additionally, from 9.1.0.400 onward, it is a built-in, containerized core service that runs natively on the VCF Management Services Platform. Deployment, lifecycle management, configuration, access control, and alerting are now all handled centrally through VCF Operations, rather than through a separate product UI.

Prerequisites

• DNS: A DNS-registered FQDN (with both forward and reverse lookup working)

• Capacity in the VCF Services Runtime: Deploying Log Management can trigger an automatic resize of the underlying Kubernetes cluster, so plan for the additional compute ahead of time.

• Sizing decision: The deployment size you choose determines how much compute and storage each node gets.

• Networking: Deployment currently supports VLAN-backed networks for the VCF Management Services; overlay networking is not yet supported for this component.

Resource Requirements for Log Management Deployments.

Size	vCPUs per Node	Memory per Node	Storage per Node	Number of Nodes
Small	8	16 GB	575 GB	1-19
Medium	24	48 GB	575 GB	3-19
Large	32	64 GB	575 GB	3-19

Procedure

1.Log in to the VCF Operations user interface at https://<vcf_operations_fqdn

2.Navigate to Build Lifecycle VCF Management.

3.On the Components tab, select Add Component Log management and configure the parameters for the deployment.

Now click Next to proceed to the Summary page for final review before deployment. Click Finish to start the deployment. As soon as the Deployment is done, you will see Log Management is running under VCF Operations -> Build -> Lifecycle.

Additionally, you can find the logs under VCF Operations -> Operate -> Log..

If you click on Log Sources, you will get an overview of the currently configured integrations, but this does not mean, that the Log collection itself is enabled.

Additionally, navigate to VCF Operations -> Operate -> Administration -> Configurations -> Log Collection to check Status. However, under Status, the Log collection is not enabled.

If you click on the “i” under Status you will see:

This is a little bit strange in my opinion, but yes, you have to switch back to the Integrations page inside VCF Operations Operate Administration Integrations and Edit your VMware Cloud Foundation Account: