VMware Cloud Foundation Operations fleet management download page shows release details and file info.

Deploying VCF Fleet Management 9 from OVA: A Step-by-Step Guide

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. ...

October 9, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
UI shows VCF 9.0.1 binary management for fleet management upgrade.

Upgrading VCF 9.0.0 Fleet Management to 9.0.1: A Step-by-Step Guide

Upgrading your VCF Fleet Management from version 9.0.0 to 9.0.1 is a relatively modest patch update, but careful execution ensures minimal disruption. Below is a step-by-step guide to walk you through the process safely. Download the Patch Download the patch by going to Fleet Management -> Binary Management -> Patch Binaries -> Select fleet management -> Download. ...

October 9, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
VMware Cloud Foundation Operations 9.0.0.0 release details with file name, release date, and SHA2/MD5 checksums.

Deploying VCF Operations 9 from OVA: A Step-by-Step Guide

VMware Cloud Foundation 9 (VCF 9) introduces a streamlined deployment experience with the VCF Installer appliance, replacing the older Cloud Builder model. One of the core components in that workflow is VCF Operations, which provides unified lifecycle, monitoring, and fleet management across your private cloud environment. In this guide, we walk through deploying VCF Operations 9 from an OVA, detailing prerequisites, deployment steps, and post-deploy tasks. 1. Prerequisites & Preparation Before you deploy, make sure these items are in place: ...

October 3, 2025 · Cosmin Trif

Fixing “PostgreSQL won’t start after reboot” on VCF Operations Fleet Management 9.0.1 — and automating it

When upgrading the VCF Operations Fleet Management appliance to 9.0.1, you might hit a reboot surprise: vPostgres fails to start, and the fleet-management certificate is regenerated. You’ll see journal errors like: pg_ctl: could not open PID file "/var/vmware/vpostgres/current/pgdata/postmaster.pid": Permission denied systemd[1]: vpostgres.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE Broadcom’s KB confirms the symptoms and provides the manual steps to fix permissions on the Postgres data dir and to normalize the regenerated cert/key filenames, followed by service restarts. (manual steps) Fix pgdata permissions chmod 700 /var/vmware/vpostgres/current/pgdata/ Normalize the regenerated certificate & key in /opt/vmware/vlcm/cert by renaming the timestamped server.crt.* / server.key.* back to server.crt / server.key, then restart services (nginx, vrlcm-server.service) and verify status/logs. One-shot automated remediation (idempotent) Run this as root on the Fleet Management appliance (e.g., via SSH). It: ...

September 30, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
VCF Operations UI showing policy definition with "Default Policy" active.

Suppress ESXi Host Alerts in VCF Operations 9 When a Host Enters Maintenance Mode

When a vSphere admin places an ESXi host in vCenter maintenance mode, VCF Operations should automatically suppress host alerts for that object, without pausing metric collection, and then restore alerting when maintenance ends. Why this approach? In VCF 9, you can avoid alert noise during maintenance in two ways: Maintenance Schedules – pause both collection and alerts during a defined window (best for planned maintenance). Policy-based alert suppression (this post) – keep metrics flowing but disable host alert definitions while the host is in maintenance. This is done with a policy attached to a dynamic custom group keyed to the host’s Maintenance Mode property. Note on naming: In VCF 9, VCF Operations is the successor to Aria/vRealize Operations and is part of the unified Cloud Foundation experience. If you’re upgrading from Aria Operations, see Broadcom’s “Upgrade to VCF Operations 9.0.” ...

July 30, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
Screenshot shows VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager 8.18.0 PATCH2 details, including status, type, and download link.

Applying VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager 8.18 Patch 2

Patch 2 prepares Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager (ASLCM) for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 migrations. It does not deliver new features or hot-fixes, so only install it if VCF 9.0 (or the new VCF Operations appliance) is on your near-term roadmap. Why Patch 2 Matters Patch 2 updates the appliance-level services that let ASLCM recognize and orchestrate VCF 9.0 components (for example, Aria Operations 9.0). Without it, the 8.18 lifecycle UI cannot import or upgrade those binaries. If you are staying on VCF 5.x/8.x for a while, you can safely defer this patch. ...

June 20, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
Cloud Foundation UI showing updates for mgmt-domain version 5.2.1.0.

Upgrading VCF 5.2.1 to VCF 9 Step by Step

With the release of VCF 9 I wanted to get my lab upgraded. The release blog can be found here and the release notes are here Please note that some of the components within the VCF will still need additional upgrading. Please read the release notes for additional details. We can start by going to Inventory -> Workload Domains -> Select the domain -> Updates -> Plan Upgrade. ...

June 20, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
VMware Cloud Foundation Installer screen shows download and deployment options for a new VCF instance.

Deploy a VCF 9 Instance in an new VCF fleet

In this blog we will go over deploying a VCF 9 instance using existing components. Once logged on and binaries downloaded we can go through the Deployment wizard Click Deployment Wizard to bring up the menu Click on VMware Cloud Foundation Because I do not yet have any environments upgraded to the new fleet management this will be a new VCF Fleet. ...

June 18, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
The image shows a VMware Cloud Foundation Installer login screen with fields for email/username and password, and a "Log In" button.

Configuring the VMware Cloud Foundation Installer appliance Step-by-step instructions

With the release of VCF 9 (Official What’s New blog can be found here) I wanted to get my lab environment upgraded so I can try out all of the new features. In my previous post we went over the deployment of the appliance. In this post we will be covering the configuration. Configure the VMware Cloud Foundation Installer appliance Once the appliance is deployed we can navigate to https://ip_address/ui or https://hostname/ui of the appliance. If everything is working properly we should be presented with a login screen. ...

June 18, 2025 · Cosmin Trif
The image shows the vSphere Client interface with options for deploying an OVF template in the "mgmt-cluster-01" datacenter.

Deploying the VMware Cloud Foundation Installer appliance Step-by-step instructions

With the release of VCF 9 (Official What’s New blog can be found here) I wanted to get my lab environment upgraded so I can try out all of the new features. To get started we need to download the VMware Cloud Foundation Installer from the VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.0.0 page found here. In this post we will cover only the deployment. The configuration is available in another post. Deploy the VMware Cloud Foundation Installer appliance Once the appliance is downloaded we need to get the ova deployed. ...

June 17, 2025 · Cosmin Trif