VCF | Ward Vissers

VCF 9.1 Enable High Availability for a Small VCF Deployment for VCF Management Services (VCFMS)

I still working on my shutdown en startup script for VCF 9.1

Because it is a small lab you have only 1 control plane and 3 workers.
A option to have second control plane vm would be nice for easier recovery.

Then I read about: William Lam: VCF 9.1 – Enabling High Availability for a Small VCF Management Services (

VCF

) Deployment

Tried it:

Checked operations.

Checked vCenter

I have now also logs running in VCF management services.
Go back to a single control plane is the same way disable HA.

When I have some time i want to test: Leaha’s Blog: VCF 9 Management Services Lab Downsize

What You Can Learn from a Minimum Resources 2 Node VCF 9 Lab Deployment to a Real Scenario

After three great sessions at VMUG Connect Amsterdam and VMUG Connect Online, and VMUGNL Summer Sessions. I’ve had requests to share the slides for my session “What You Can Learn from a Minimum Resources 2 Node VCF 9 Lab Deployment to a Real Scenario“.

The response was great.

In the slide deck you will find:

✅ The Start of My VCF Story
✅ First Challenge
✅ Why i wanted to build a real Senario
✅ Why i choise going to a build a real VCF scenario
✅ The Road
✅ The Lessions Learned & Next Steps

Building and Optimizing a Minimal 2-Node VMware Cloud Foundation 9 Lab Deploymentfrom Ward Vissers

VCF 9.1: Fixing Root Account Password Expiration Issues

One of the first post-deployment tasks after installing VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 is configuring a password policy to ensure compliance with your organization’s security standards.

While the password policy is successfully applied to most managed accounts, you may notice that the root accounts of the VCF Operations appliance and the VCF Proxy appliance do not follow the configured password expiration policy.

As a result, the expiration date shown in VCF Management remains unchanged, even though a password policy has been configured.

Symptoms

You may observe one or more of the following:

• A password policy is configured successfully in VCF Management.
• Compliance checks complete without errors.
• The root account of the VCF Operations appliance still shows an incorrect or outdated password expiration date.
• The same behavior occurs on the VCF Proxy appliance.

This can be confusing because the password policy appears to be configured correctly, but it is not enforced for these Linux root accounts.

Why Does This Happen?

The password policy configured in VCF does not automatically update the Linux root account password aging settings on the VCF Operations and Proxy appliances.

Instead, these appliances continue to rely on the Linux ‘chage’ configuration to determine when the root password expires.

VMware has documented this behavior and provided a straightforward workaround.
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/441344/configured-password-policy-is-not-being.html

Resolution

Before making any changes, enable SSH access on the VCF Operations appliance if it is currently disabled.
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/315976/enabling-ssh-access-in-aria-operations.html

Step 1 – Connect to the VCF Operations Appliance

SSH to the VCF Operations appliance using an administrative account.

ssh admin@<vcf-operations-appliance>

Step 2 – Verify the Current Password Expiration

Run:

sudo chage -l root

Step 3 – Configure the Password Expiration

Configure a 365-day password lifetime:

sudo chage -M 365 root

Step 4 – Verify the Change

Run:

chage -l root

Step 5 – Repeat for the VCF Proxy Appliance

Repeat the same commands on the VCF Proxy appliance, either through SSH (if enabled) or via the VMware console.

Wait for VCF to Update

Notes

The updated password expiration date is not reflected immediately in the VCF Management interface.

VCF periodically refreshes password information, so it may take 10–30 minutes (or longer depending on your environment) before the new expiration date appears.

• This change only affects the Linux root account.
• Verify the setting after appliance upgrades.
• Adjust the password lifetime (90, 180, 365 days, etc.) according to your security policy.

Conclusion

Although VCF 9.1 allows administrators to centrally configure password policies, the Linux root accounts on the VCF Operations and VCF Proxy appliances continue to rely on the local Linux password aging configuration.

Updating the password expiration with the chage command ensures that the root account complies with your organization’s password policy. Once VCF completes its next inventory synchronization, the correct expiration date is displayed in the VCF Management interface.

Managing VCF Automation Resource Utilization Using CPU Limits

My VCF 9.1 Lab environment is also cpu constraint.
To free up some cpu resources I shutdown VCF automation regularly.

I installed path release https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vcf/vcf-9-0-and-later/9-1/release-notes/patch-releases-9-1-0-x/vcf-operations/9-1-0-0100.html

Booting VCF Automation takes al lot of resources. I see regularly spikes. See screenshot below.

.

Normally VCF automation runs between 8 – 10Ghz Which is normal and fine in a 3 Node MS-A2 setup.

To make my Lab environment a little bit safer i limit VCF automation till 25000mhz.
This keeps my MS-A2 a little cooler and ensures that the node does max out.

Exploring Minimum 2 Node Homelab at VMUG Connect in Amsterdam

Thrilled to join the @MyVMUG community at VMUG Connect in Amstedam! I’ll be diving into Minimum 2 Node Homelab Setup and sharing practical insights you can use in your environment. Can’t wait to learn from other members too!

Afbeelding met tekst, kleding, person, Menselijk gezichtDoor AI gegenereerde inhoud is mogelijk onjuist.

Afbeelding met tekst, schermopnameDoor AI gegenereerde inhoud is mogelijk onjuist.

Powercli Script to update From VMware.Powercli to VCF.Powercli

I made a little script that does the following:

Check if VMware or VCF PowerCLI is installed and is outdated
Check if VCF.Powercli is the latest installed
If VMware.Powercli is installed upgrade to VCF.Powercli
If VCF Powercli is installed but not the latest version upgrade to VCF to the latest version

You can download the script on my github repository: https://github.com/WardVissers/VCF-Public/blob/main/Check%20Installed%20VCF-Powercli%20Version.ps1

$installedVCFPowercli   = Get-InstalledModule VCF.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$installedVMwarePowercli   = Get-InstalledModule VMware.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$latestVCFPowercli    = Find-Module VCF.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$latestVMwarePowercli =  Find-Module VMware.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$OldModules = Get-InstalledModule VMware.* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$OldModules += Get-InstalledModule VCF.* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinu | Where-Object {[version]$_.Version -lt $latestVCF.Version}

Function Uninstall-OldPowercliEditons {
$Total = $OldModules.Count
$Index = 0
foreach ($Module in $OldModules) {
    $Index++
    $Percent = ($Index / $Total) * 100

    Write-Progress `
        -Activity "Delete old PowerCLI version" `
        -Status "Uninstall version $($Module.Version) ($Index from $Total)" `
        -PercentComplete $Percent

    try {
        Uninstall-Module -Name $Module.name -AllVersions -Force  # -ErrorAction silentlycontinue -ErrorVariable +err
        Write-Host "🗑 Removed: PowerCLI $($Module.Name) with $($Module.Version)"
    }
    catch {
        Write-Error "❌ Error with deleting PowerCLI $($Module.Version): $_"
    }

    Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
  }
}

if (-not ($installedVMwarePowercli -or $installedVCFPowercli -or $OldModules )) {
    "❌ VCF.PowerCLI is not installed"
    Install-Module VCF.PowerCLI -AllowClobber  -Scope CurrentUser # -SkipPublisherCheck
}
elseif ([version]$installedVCFPowercli.Version -eq [version]$latestVCFPowercli.Version) {
    "✅ VCF PowerCLI is up-to-date ($($installed.Version))"
}
elseif ($installedVMwarePowercli) {
    "⬆ VMware Powercli is installed needed upgrade to VCF Powercli"
    Uninstall-OldPowercliEditons
    Write-Host "Uninstall is succes vol"  -ForegroundColor Yellow
    Install-Module VCF.PowerCLI -AllowClobber  -Scope CurrentUser # -SkipPublisherCheck
    Write-Host "Install VCF Powercli is succes" -ForegroundColor Green
}
else {
    "⬆ VCF Powercli Update beschikbaar $($latestVCFPowercli.Version)"
    Uninstall-OldPowercliEditons
    Write-Host "Uninstall is succes" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    Update-Module -Name VCF.PowerCLI -Force
    Write-Host "Update is succes vol" -ForegroundColor Green
}

$installedVCFPowercli   = Get-InstalledModule VCF.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$installedVMwarePowercli   = Get-InstalledModule VMware.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$latestVCFPowercli    = Find-Module VCF.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$latestVMwarePowercli =  Find-Module VMware.PowerCLI -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$OldModules = Get-InstalledModule VMware.* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$OldModules += Get-InstalledModule VCF.* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinu | Where-Object {[version]$_.Version -lt $latestVCF.Version}

Function Uninstall-OldPowercliEditons {
$Total = $OldModules.Count
$Index = 0
foreach ($Module in $OldModules) {
    $Index++
    $Percent = ($Index / $Total) * 100

    Write-Progress `
        -Activity "Delete old PowerCLI version" `
        -Status "Uninstall version $($Module.Version) ($Index from $Total)" `
        -PercentComplete $Percent

    try {
        Uninstall-Module -Name $Module.name -AllVersions -Force  # -ErrorAction silentlycontinue -ErrorVariable +err
        Write-Host "🗑 Removed: PowerCLI $($Module.Name) with $($Module.Version)"
    }
    catch {
        Write-Error "❌ Error with deleting PowerCLI $($Module.Version): $_"
    }

    Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
  }
}

if (-not ($installedVMwarePowercli -or $installedVCFPowercli -or $OldModules )) {
    "❌ VCF.PowerCLI is not installed"
    Install-Module VCF.PowerCLI -AllowClobber  -Scope CurrentUser # -SkipPublisherCheck
}
elseif ([version]$installedVCFPowercli.Version -eq [version]$latestVCFPowercli.Version) {
    "✅ VCF PowerCLI is up-to-date ($($installed.Version))"
}
elseif ($installedVMwarePowercli) {
    "⬆ VMware Powercli is installed needed upgrade to VCF Powercli"
    Uninstall-OldPowercliEditons
    Write-Host "Uninstall is succes vol"  -ForegroundColor Yellow
    Install-Module VCF.PowerCLI -AllowClobber  -Scope CurrentUser # -SkipPublisherCheck
    Write-Host "Install VCF Powercli is succes" -ForegroundColor Green
}
else {
    "⬆ VCF Powercli Update beschikbaar $($latestVCFPowercli.Version)"
    Uninstall-OldPowercliEditons
    Write-Host "Uninstall is succes" -ForegroundColor Yellow
    Update-Module -Name VCF.PowerCLI -Force
    Write-Host "Update is succes vol" -ForegroundColor Green
}

Setting Up KubeDoom on Kubernetes: A Beginner’s Guide

I followed William Lam’s article about MS-A2 VCF 9.0 Lab: Configuring vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS)

I don’t have much experience with Kubernetes but wanted to try some new things.

The only container that I have running is Home Assistant on Docker.

Got to try to get Kubedoom working. So I did with the following steps.
Maybe in the near future I’ll try to add more games: Retro DOS Games on Kubernetes

Finally having a Kubernetes cluster version 1.32, which was required for running KubeDoom.

Download kubectl

mkdir d:\kubectl

Extract the downloaded ZIP file and place both executables (kubectl.exe and kubectl-vsphere.exe) in a folder such as: d:\kubectl

.\kubectl version –client

mkdir .kube

cd .kube

New-Item config -type file

.\kubectl vsphere login –server=https://31.31.0.7 –insecure-skip-tls-verify

kubectl –kubeconfig=kubernetes-cluster-jzvx-kubeconfig.yaml get pods

kubectl –kubeconfig=kubernetes-cluster-jzvx-kubeconfig.yaml apply -f kubedoom.yaml

kubectl –kubeconfig=kubernetes-cluster-jzvx-kubeconfig.yaml -n kubedoom get svc

The password to Kubedoom is idbehold

Download VNC Viewer: https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer

This is funny and cool!

Fixing LCMVROPCONFIG20013 in VCF 9.0.1

ERROR LCMVROPCONFIG20013 while VCF Operations update from 9.0.0 to 9.01

ERROR LCMVROPCONFIG20013

Installed Tree: apt install tree # tree

File Exsist on the Offline Depot

File Remove from the Binary Management

Download the upgrade file again

Download the file again: sudo ./vcf-download-tool binaries download –depot-download-token-file=/home/token -d /var/www/html –vcf-version=9.0.1 –type UPGRADE –component VROPS

Pre-staged the VROPS update again

Update successfully

Addressing Edge Server Issues in VCF 9.0 after a Shutdown

After shutting down the VCF 9.0 environment completely, I had 2 strange things.

I followed the shutdown order for the management domain.

Edge servers lost from NIC 2 and NIC 3 the network configuration
Edge Servers did not start, not correctly

I deployed a third edge server. Two new distributed port groups were created.

These are missing for the edge01a and edge01b servers. These should not be deleted/missing after shutdown.

Create a distributed port group with a VLAN trunk

Set NIC 2 and 3 to this network.

Edge Nodes’ Edge Cluster is running fine again 😊

I found this on the Daniel Kruger Blog: https://sdn-warrior.org/posts/vcf9-ms-a2-special/

This is a known issue with VCF 9.0.0: When an edge is created by the Setup Network Connectivity UI, the system-created dvpg consumed by the edge gets deleted when the edge is powered on after 24 hrs. The port group assigned to the NSX Edge uplink has disappeared, making it impossible to use the network through NSX Edge. You can find the release notes here.

Build my lab nested, but not enough resources to do a full upgrade to 9.0.1.
So I build the lab again, but physically. More about that later!

I love testing things; you learn so much!

MS-A2: How a Ubiquity Flex 2.5G skips the 10G check in VCF 9.X

VCF 9 and 9.0.1 require 10GB nic.

I use for my homelab the MS-A2 with the 2 x 10GbE Intel X710 SFP+ (NIC 1 & 2 from the left). It is silent and fast and have enough power to run VCF 9!

So I bought also the 10GbE SFP+ to Copper Transceiver

But when you connect the MS-A2 to USW Flex 2.5G switch on the switch side is 2.5G.

But on the VMware side is 10GB 😊

No need to do the following: Disable 10GbE NIC Pre-Check in the VCF 9.0 Installer or

Enhancement in VCF 9.0.1 to bypass vSAN ESA HCL & Host Commission 10GbE NIC Check

It working great! No need to buy expensive 10GB switch!

Tag: VCF

VCF 9.1 Enable High Availability for a Small VCF Deployment for VCF Management Services (VCFMS)

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Managing VCF Automation Resource Utilization Using CPU Limits

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Exploring Minimum 2 Node Homelab at VMUG Connect in Amsterdam

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Powercli Script to update From VMware.Powercli to VCF.Powercli

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Setting Up KubeDoom on Kubernetes: A Beginner’s Guide

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Fixing LCMVROPCONFIG20013 in VCF 9.0.1

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Addressing Edge Server Issues in VCF 9.0 after a Shutdown

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MS-A2: How a Ubiquity Flex 2.5G skips the 10G check in VCF 9.X

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Symptoms

Why Does This Happen?

Resolution

Step 1 – Connect to the VCF Operations Appliance

Step 2 – Verify the Current Password Expiration

Step 3 – Configure the Password Expiration

Step 4 – Verify the Change

Step 5 – Repeat for the VCF Proxy Appliance

Wait for VCF to Update

Notes

Conclusion

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