You shut down the components of a VI workload domain that runs virtualized workloads in VMware Cloud Foundation in a specific order to keep components operational by maintaining the necessary infrastructure, networking, and management services as long as possible before shutdown.

You shut down the management components for the VI workload domains before you shut down the components for the management domain.

If the NSX Manager cluster and NSX Edge cluster are shared with other VI workload domains, follow this general order:

  1. Shut down the customer workloads in all VI workload domains that share the NSX-T Data Center instance. Otherwise, all NSX networking services in the customer workloads will be interrupted when you shut down NSX-T Data Center.

  2. Shut down the VI workload domain that runs the shared NSX Edge nodes.

  3. Shut down the other VI workload domains.

Shutdown Order for a VI Workload Domain

Table 1. Shutdown Order for a VI Workload Domain

Shutdown Order

SDDC Component

1

Virtualized customer workloads

2

Site Recovery Manager for the VI workload domain

3

vSphere Replication for the VI workload domain

4

NSX Edge nodes for the VI workload domain *

5

NSX Manager nodes for the VI workload domain *

6

vSphere Cluster Services virtual machines, VxRail Manager,VMware vSAN™, and ESXi hosts in the VI workload domain *

7

vCenter Server for the VI workload domain *

* For information on the shutdown steps, see below.

Shut Down the NSX Edge Nodes

You begin shutting down the VMware NSX-T™ Data Center infrastructure in the management domain or in a VI workload domain in VMware Cloud Foundation by shutting down the NSX Edge nodes that provide north-south traffic connectivity between the physical data center networks and the NSX SDN networks

Procedure

  1. Log in to vCenter Server for the management or VI workload domain at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as administrator@vsphere.local.
  2. In the VMs and templates inventory, expand the tree of workload domain vCenter Server and expand data center for the workload domain.
  3. Right-click an NSX Edge virtual machine for the management domain or VI workload domain and select Power > Shut down Guest OS.
  4. In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

    This operation takes several minutes to complete.

  5. Repeat the steps for the remaining NSX Edge nodes for the domain.

Shut Down the NSX Manager Nodes

You continue shutting down the NSX-T Data Center infrastructure in the management domain and a VI workload domain by shutting down the three-node NSX Manager cluster by using the vSphere Client.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the management domain vCenter Server at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as administrator@vsphere.local.
  2. In the VMs and templates inventory, expand the management domain vCenter Server tree and expand the management domain data center.
  3. Right-click the primary NSX manager virtual machine and select Power > Shut down Guest OS.
  4. In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

    This operation takes several minutes to complete.

  5. Repeat the steps for the remaining NSX Manager virtual machines.

Shut Down vSphere Cluster Services Virtual Machines, VxRail Manager, VMware vSAN, and ESXi Hosts

To shut down the vSphere Cluster Services (vCLS) virtual machines, VxRail Manager, VMware vSAN, and ESXi hosts in a workload domain cluster, you use the VxRail plugin in the vSphere Client.

Procedure

  1. Log in to vCenter Server for the management or VI workload domain at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as administrator@vsphere.local.
  2. In the Hosts and Clusters inventory, expand the tree of the workload domain vCenter Server and expand the data center for the workload domain.
  3. Right-click a cluster, select VxRail-Shutdown, and follow the prompts to shut down the cluster.
  4. Repeat these steps for all clusters in the workload domain.
  5. Verify that all ESXi hosts are shut down.

Shut Down vCenter Server for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain

To shut down the vCenter Server instance for a VI workload domain in VMware Cloud Foundation, you use the vSphere Client.

Prerequisites

Verify that all ESXi hosts in all clusters are stopped and are disconnected.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the management domain vCenter Server at https://<vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui as administrator@vsphere.local.
  2. In the VMs and templates inventory, expand the management domain vCenter Server tree and expand the management domain data center.
  3. Shut down vCenter Server.
    1. Locate the vCenter Server virtual machine for the VI workload domain.
    2. Right-click the virtual machine and select Power > Shut down Guest OS.
    3. In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

    This operation takes several minutes to complete.