The NSX Edge Cluster deployment procedure has changed significantly in VCF 9. When we performed this in previous versions, it was via the SDDC Manager (either by JSON spec or GUI in newer VCF versions). As I mentioned in previous posts, the SDDC Manager is being deprecated, so the Edge deployment has moved into the…
We have a new and improved workflow for Certificates in VCF 9:ESX Certificates now supported in the Operations Console!Auto-renewal now supported if you are using the CA Integration! First, we configure the integration with a Microsoft CA Now we can generate a CSR, and replace the certs directly from the CA. After a few minutes,…
VIDM IS DEAD! We finally have a new authentication solution for VCF, the Identity Broker. This intended to be the central authentication point for all of the VCF components, and we have new functionality such as integration with modern identity providers like Entra/Ping We have 2 deployment modes available:1: Integrated with Management Domain vCenter. This…
VCF 9 has mostly done away with the SDDC Manager – it still gets deployed, but is scheduled for deprecation. I assume it’s still there to allow customers that have deveoped their own automation workflows that hit the SDDC-M endpoint. We now have a new method of commissioning and deploying hosts via the vCenter directly….
VCF 9 has made major changes to the deployment process. The Cloud Builder + Deployment EMS spreadsheet have been deprecated and we have a brand new installer! To begin, we deploy an SDDC Manager/Installer appliance via vSphere. Once it’s online, we can begin the process. Now we connect the Installer to either an online or…
Holodeck has become the standard for home lab VCF, and it’s easy to see why. It’s probably going to be a while before the official scripts are released, so here’s the workarounds I’ve used to deploy a nested VCF 9 platform in my lab. I’ve probably oversized this environment, so I’m planning to tune it…
The parts have all landed (finally) including the extra fans I needed.Here’s the install pic showing the extra CPUs, fans, memory and 25Gbit RNDC card installed. Luckily the RAM from the old Gibson was also compatible with the new hardware, so I’ve pulled some extra memory. ESX installed, hosts cut over and the old ones…
THE HARDWARE HAS LANDED. Well some of it anyway, and I was ready to build but… (there’s usually a but with IT projects). There’s some stuff I forgot/overlooked/got blindsided by. 1: Since I bought single socket servers, I forgot about the CPU heatsinks.2: The single socket servers don’t have fans in front of the empty…
The time has come to upgrade the Gibson, for two main reasons. I’m running out of resources for the projects I’m trying to simulate, and the Broadwell CPUs in my existing hardware will be deprecated with VCF 9, which is on the horizon. There’s going to be a lot of labbing and learning required when…
I recently upgraded my home network with a UniFi UDM Pro router. These have only just been updated with support for BGP, so it’s now a really nice fit for my use case. The documentation around BGP is pretty light at the moment, and it doesn’t feel “fully” integrated to the UniFi management suite. I…