You can attach a cluster to VMware Tanzu Mission Control during the cluster creation workflow in VMware Cloud Director Container Service Extension using the Kubernetes Container Clusters UI plugin.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that your service provider published VMware Cloud Director Extension for VMware Tanzu Mission Control to your organization, and it is available for use.

Procedure

  1. Log in to VMware Cloud Director, click More > Kubernetes Container Clusters > New.
  2. Begin the Create a VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Cluster workflow, and in the Tanzu Mission Control tab, activate the Attach to Tanzu Mission Control toggle if you want to manage the cluster in VMware Tanzu Mission Control. For more information on managing clusters in VMware Tanzu Mission Control, see Managing Clusters.
    Note: To ensure that a cluster is attachable, it is necessary the cluster has specific configuration. For detailed configuration parameters, see Cluster Requirements.
  3. Select your assigned cluster group.
    Note: If you do not know your assigned cluster group, ask your organization administrator. Be aware that choosing Default as a cluster group will make your cluster accessible to other organization users in VMware Tanzu Mission Control.
  4. Complete the cluster creation workflow to the end, and in the Review tab, review the VMware Tanzu Mission Control information, and click Finish.

Attach an Existing Cluster

You can attach an existing cluster in VMware Cloud Director Container Service Extension to VMware Tanzu Mission Control directly through the Kubernetes Container Clusters UI plugin.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that your service provider published VMware Cloud Director Extension for VMware Tanzu Mission Control to your organization, and it is available for use.
  • Ensure the cluster you want to attach to VMware Cloud Director Extension for VMware Tanzu Mission Control has the appropriate cluster requirements configured. For more information, see Cluster Requirements.
  • Ensure the cluster you want to attach to VMware Cloud Director Extension for VMware Tanzu Mission Control has the compatible Kubernetes components configured. For more information, see Upgrade Kubernetes Components in VMware Cloud Director Container Service Extension Clusters.

Procedure

  1. Log in to VMware Cloud Director, click More > Kubernetes Container Clusters.
  2. In the Kubernetes Clusters tab, in the datagrid, click on the name of the cluster you want to attach, and click Attach to TMC.
    Note: When you click Attach to TMC, the following messages appear:

    • Confirm that the components in this cluster have the required versions.

    • I acknowledge that proceeding with attachment will add TMC-required certificates to this cluster, which will trigger rolling update of all cluster nodes.

      • This message advises you that VMware Tanzu Mission Control required certificates are added to the cluster on attachment, that trigger rolling updates of cluster nodes. It is necessary to check the box next to this message to proceed with the cluster attachment.
  3. Select your assigned cluster group.
    Note:

    If you do not know your assigned cluster group, ask your organization administrator. Be aware that choosing Default as a cluster group will make your cluster accessible to other organization users in VMware Tanzu Mission Control.

  4. Click Attach.
    Note: Clusters that were created before VMware Tanzu Mission Control is installed may need an update if the service provider informs you that a self-signed certificate is used for their registry server. These clusters will fail to load container images and Carvel PackageRepositories from the registry server when they are attached to VMware Tanzu Mission Control. To avoid this occurence, see Configure VMware Cloud Director Extension for VMware Tanzu Mission Control with self-signed certificates (94799).

    Clusters created through the Kubernetes Container Clusters UI after VMware Tanzu Mission Control is installed will have the appropriate certificates by default. Clusters created through API must include these certificates in the cluster definition.

VMware Tanzu Mission Control Attachment Status

When you attach a cluster to VMware Tanzu Mission Control, the cluster status displays different phases during the attachment process.

In the Kubernetes Container Clusters UI, in the Cluster Information page, you can view the cluster attachment status to VMware Tanzu Mission Control. You can also view the VMware Tanzu Mission Control attachment status in the TMC Attachment Status column of the Kubernetes Container Clusters UI landing page.

The following VMware Tanzu Mission Control attachment status are some that can appear in the cluster attachment process: Ready, Ready to Attach, Attach_Complete, Pending, Detaching, Phase_Unspecified, Unknown, and -. For more detailed information on VMware Tanzu Mission Control status, see Tanzu Mission Control, and look for vmware.tanzu.manage.v1alpha1.cluster.Status in the models.

TMC Attachment Status Column in the Kubernetes Container Clusters UI Landing Page