Deploying the VCF Fleet Management (Operations / Fleet Manager) appliance using an OVA is a common approach when standing up a new VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9 environment or re-deploying the component. Below is a refined guide covering the deployment, configuration, and integration steps.

1. Prerequisites & Downloading Binaries

Before you deploy the OVA:

  • Log into the Broadcom Support Portal and obtain the required binaries and OVA files for the Fleet Manager. Direct link can be found here.

Portal screenshot shows VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.0.0 fleet management OVA details.

  • Ensure DNS, IP addresses, and network configurations for the appliance are defined (fully qualified domain name, subnet, gateway, DNS servers, etc.).
  • Ensure your vCenter / ESXi environment meets the compatibility and resource requirements (CPU, RAM, storage).
  • Map the hostname, IP, and other parameters you’ll use for the Fleet Manager appliance.

2. Deploy the OVA via vCenter

  1. In vCenter, choose Deploy OVA (or OVF template).
  2. Select the Fleet Manager OVA file (downloaded from the portal).

Deploy OVF template wizard step showing file upload for VCF Fleet Manager 9.

  1. Provide a VM name and select the inventory location (folder, cluster, or host).

Deploying VCF Fleet Management 9: Select VM name and folder location.

  1. Choose the compute resource (ESXi host or cluster) for placement.

Select a compute resource in the Deploy OVF Template wizard.

  1. Review the details and click Next.

Deploy OVF Template wizard, review details step, showing product, version, size, and provisioning options.

  1. Select the target storage (datastore) for the VM’s disks.

Deploy OVF Template wizard, Step 5: Select storage, showing storage options and compatibility check.

  1. Choose the network(s) to attach the appliance.

Selecting network destination for appliance deployment in VCF Fleet Management 9.

  1. When prompted, fill in the customization metadata:
    • Root / admin passwords
    • FQDN / hostname
    • IP address, subnet mask, gateway
    • DNS server(s), domain name
    • NTP server(s)

Customize template step shows password fields, hostname, and SSH service options for deploying VCF Fleet Management 9.

  1. Review the settings and click Finish to deploy the OVA.

Deploy OVF Template wizard step: Ready to complete.

  1. Power on the appliance once deployment completes.

3. Initial Configuration & Connection

  1. Access the Operations appliance UI admin interface via its FQDN (e.g. https://<fleet-mgr-fqdn/admin>) in a browser.
  2. In the UI, go to the Fleet Management or Connect tile.

The UI shows Cluster Status as Online and Fleet Management as Not Connected.

  1. Enter the IP / FQDN and admin credentials for the new appliance, then test the connection.
  2. Accept any SSL / certificate warnings as needed.

Fleet Management Node Details step shows fields for Node Address, Admin Password, and Certificate Information.

  1. Supply credentials for your primary VCF Operations node (or cluster).

Adding Fleet Management Node: Enter primary node password.

  1. Wait for a couple of minutes, the Fleet Management box should reflect as Connected

Fleet Management box shows “Connected” status.

4. Import / Add Existing Components

Once Fleet Manager is reachable, the next steps are to integrate it with any existing Operations / Logs instances:

  1. Go to Operations user interface -> Fleet Management -> Lifecycle -> VCF Management -> Under operations click Import. this should start a task

The image shows a VCF Management deployment step in Fleet Management, with options to select Installation Type: New Install, Import, or Import from legacy Fleet Management.

  1. Provide the credentials, FQDN, and vCenter info. Submit the job.

VCF Management operations step showing credentials and vCenter info for deployment.

  1. Review the details and click submit. This will start a task to import VCF Operations under management.

The image shows a VCF Management task progress with stages labeled and durations.

5. Configure the Depot & Deploy VCF Automation (Optional Next Step)

  • In the UI, configure the Depot / Binary Management settings (online or offline depot).
  • After the depot is set up and binaries are synchronized, you can use the UI to deploy VCF Automation, the next piece of your stack.

6. Verification & Post-Deployment Checks

  • In Lifecycle → Overview / Components, confirm that Operations and Fleet Manager show successful integration.
  • Check connectivity, dashboard health, metrics, and logs to ensure no errors or warnings.
  • Verify that future Lifecycle / patching tasks are visible and manageable under this new Fleet Manager hierarchy.