VMware Cloud Foundation Guides

These guides cover deploying and maintaining VMware Cloud Foundation, from the installer and workload domains to component upgrades and failed lifecycle tasks. Start with the release and operation that match your environment; the older walkthroughs remain useful for understanding the systems they document.

VCF 9 deployment and lifecycle

Upgrade VCF Management Components to 9.1.1 All in One — a sequential runbook that brings the component-specific 9.1.1 guides together.
Deploy a VCF 9.1 fleet with the Cloud Foundation Installer — follow the installation workflow and its configuration screens.
Import a vCenter 8.x workload domain into VCF 9 — work through bringing an existing environment into VCF.
Upgrade VCF Services Runtime to 9.1.1 and upgrade VCF SDDC Lifecycle to 9.1.1 — component-specific walkthroughs with prerequisites and verification.

Choose the right upgrade guide

The VCF Upgrades series groups the VCF 4, 5, and 9 walkthroughs. The VCF 9 Fleet Management series covers fleet services, credential problems, and patch recovery. Article order is not an upgrade plan: check Broadcom’s supported path, release dependencies, and target bill of materials before a change.

For component work, continue with vSphere and ESXi, NSX, VCF Automation, or VCF and Aria Operations.

VCF Operations showing SDDC Manager at version 9.1.1.0.25713928 after the upgrade.

Upgrading VCF 9.1 SDDC Manager to 9.1.1: A Step-by-Step Guide

With VCF 9.1.1 available, I wanted to patch SDDC Manager in my lab. This is the follow-up to my VCF 9.0 SDDC Manager upgrade guide. In this post I will go over the upgrade from 9.1.0.0400.25570100 to 9.1.1.0.25713928 through VCF Operations. VCF 9.1.1 is a maintenance release with an updated Bill of Materials. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes are the source of truth for supported paths and dependencies. One naming detail before we start: these screenshots show SDDC Manager under Build -> Lifecycle -> VCF Instances. That is different from the SDDC Lifecycle management-service component under Build -> Lifecycle -> VCF Management. The procedure below is for SDDC Manager. This patches SDDC Manager only; it does not change the management-domain version or patch the other core components. Broadcom documents this standalone path in Upgrade SDDC Manager without upgrading VCF. ...

VCF Management page showing the Migration Service Engine upgrade path to VCF 9.1.1.

Upgrading the VCF Migration Service Engine to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I continued upgrading the management components in my lab. In this post I will go over upgrading the Migration Service Engine from 9.1.0.0200 to 9.1.1.0 through VCF Operations. The task is labeled VCD_MIGRATOR in the workflow, so I use both names below. This is the component upgrade that prepares the VCD migration service. It does not migrate workloads by itself. If you are preparing a VCD workload migration, also check the supported VCD baseline and the Environment Assessment Tool requirements in Broadcom KB 455238. Broadcom currently documents VCD 10.6.2 as the supported source for the VCF 9.1 migration path. ...

VCF Management Upgrade page showing the 9.1.1 target and Fleet Lifecycle upgrade path.

Upgrading VCF Management Components to 9.1.1 All in One

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I wanted to bring the management-service upgrades together in one place. I already wrote a separate walkthrough for each component, but following a collection of individual posts is not how I want to plan a maintenance window. This post is the all-in-one runbook I would use for a VCF 9.1.0.x fleet, including the VCD Migrator that was missing from my earlier set of guides. ...

VCF Automation selected in VCF Operations with the upgrade path from 9.1.0.0200.25556825 to 9.1.1.0.25714559.

Upgrading VCF Automation to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I continued upgrading the management components in my lab. In this post I will go over upgrading VCF Automation from 9.1.0.0200 to 9.1.1.0 through VCF Operations. VCF 9.1.1 is a maintenance release focused mostly on supportability improvements. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes are the source for the release scope, patch order, and known issues. The component release notes for VCF Automation 9.1.1 list build 25714559. ...

VCF Operations VCF Management upgrade page showing VCF Operations for Networks instance-a ready to upgrade from 9.1.0.0200.25517220 to 9.1.1.0.25682214.

Upgrading VCF Operations for Networks to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I continued patching the management services in my lab. In this post I will go over upgrading VCF Operations for Networks from 9.1.0.0200 to 9.1.1.0 through VCF Operations. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes are the source for the release scope, upgrade sequence, dependencies, and known issues. In my lab, the target VCF Operations for Networks build was 9.1.1.0.25682214. VCF Operations for Networks was formerly known as Aria Operations for Networks and vRealize Network Insight. In VCF 9.1 it is a separate appliance managed from the VCF Operations Fleet Lifecycle workflow. This walkthrough covers one 9.1.0.x maintenance upgrade. If you are still on Aria Operations for Networks 6.x, I covered upgrading to 6.14 via an upgrade bundle and upgrading to 6.14 via Aria Suite Lifecycle. Moving from 6.14 into VCF 9.x is a separate migration path, so follow the applicable VCF upgrade procedure first. ...

VCF Salt RaaS component summary showing Running status and version 9.1.1.0.25679895.

Upgrading VCF Salt RaaS to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I wanted to continue patching the management services in my lab. This post is a follow-up to my older SaltStack Config 8.12.1 guide and covers upgrading VCF Salt RaaS from 9.1.0.0100 to 9.1.1 through VCF Operations. VCF Salt is the current product name for the Salt services that were previously presented as SaltStack Config or VMware Aria Automation Config. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes and the VCF Operations 9.1.1 release notes are the references I used for the target build and upgrade dependencies. ...

VCF Operations VCF Management upgrade page showing Salt master ready to upgrade from 9.1.0.0400.25544946 to 9.1.1.0.25679895.

Upgrading VCF Salt Master to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I continued patching the management services in my lab. In this post I will go over upgrading the VCF Salt Master from 9.1.0.0400 to 9.1.1 through VCF Operations. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes are the source for the release scope and patch dependencies. The VCF Operations 9.1.1 release notes list Salt Master and Salt RaaS at target build 25679895. This walkthrough covers a 9.1.0.x to 9.1.1 maintenance upgrade of one Salt Master instance. If you are starting from an older VCF or VMware Aria release, follow the applicable VCF upgrade or migration procedure first. ...

VCF Operations VCF Management upgrade page showing Identity Broker ready to upgrade to 9.1.1.0.25679886.

Upgrading VCF Identity Broker to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I continued patching the management services in my lab. This post is a follow-up to my VCF 9.1 management services upgrade walkthrough and covers VCF Identity Broker through VCF Operations. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes are the source for the release scope, upgrade sequence, dependencies, and known issues. The VCF Operations 9.1.1 release notes list the Identity Broker target build as 25679886. In VCF 9.1, Identity Broker is a VCF management service hosted by the VCF services runtime. The supported lifecycle workflow is Build -> Lifecycle -> VCF Management -> Upgrade. This walkthrough covers a 9.1.0.x maintenance upgrade. If you are coming from an older VCF or VMware Identity Manager deployment, follow the applicable migration or upgrade procedure first; this is not a replacement for that transition workflow. ...

VCF Management Upgrade page showing Telemetry instance-a ready to upgrade from 9.1.0.0.25181946 to 9.1.1.0.25671600.

Upgrading VCF Telemetry to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I continued patching the management services in my lab. In this post I will go over upgrading VCF Telemetry from 9.1.0.0 to 9.1.1.0 through VCF Operations. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes are the source for the release scope, upgrade sequence, dependencies, and known issues. The VCF Operations 9.1.1 release notes list the Telemetry target build as 25671600. Telemetry is a VCF management service hosted by the VCF services runtime. The supported lifecycle workflow is Build -> Lifecycle -> VCF Management -> Upgrade. This walkthrough covers one 9.1.0.x to 9.1.1 maintenance upgrade. If you are coming from an older VCF or Aria release, follow the applicable VCF upgrade procedure first. ...

VCF Management upgrade page showing Real-Time Metrics Store ready to upgrade to 9.1.1.0.25714471.

Upgrading VCF Real-Time Metrics Store to 9.1.1 Step by Step

With VCF 9.1.1 released on September 3, 2026, I continued patching the management services in my lab. This post is a follow-up to my VCF 9.1 management services upgrade walkthrough and covers the Real-Time Metrics Store through VCF Operations. The VCF 9.1.1 release notes are the source for the release scope, upgrade sequence, dependencies, and known issues. The VCF Operations 9.1.1 release notes list the Real-Time Metrics Store target build as 25714471. The Real-Time Metrics Store is its own VCF management component. It is separate from the Real-Time Metrics component, even though both appear in the same VCF Management list. The supported lifecycle workflow is Build -> Lifecycle -> VCF Management -> Upgrade. This walkthrough covers a 9.1.0.x to 9.1.1 maintenance patch; an environment coming from an older VCF or Aria release should follow the applicable VCF upgrade procedure first. ...

VCF 9 deployment and lifecycle#

Choose the right upgrade guide#

VCF 9 deployment and lifecycle

Choose the right upgrade guide