Once SDDC Manager is upgraded to version 5.2 or later, new functionality is introduced to the upgrade planner that allows you to select specific target versions for each VMware Cloud Foundation component you want to upgrade. This procedure describes using the Bundle Transfer Utility to download the bundles for a flexible BOM upgrade when SDDC Manager is not connected to an online depot.

After you download the bundles, you can use the upgrade planner in the SDDC Manager UI to select any supported version for each of the VMware Cloud Foundation BOM components. This includes async patch versions as well as VCF BOM versions.

Offline download of flexible BOM upgrade bundles involves the following steps:
  • On a computer with access to the internet, use the Bundle Transfer Utility to download the required files.
  • Copy the required files to the SDDC Manager appliance.
  • On the SDDC Manager appliance, use the Bundle Transfer Utility to upload the required files to the internal LCM repository.
  • Plan the upgrade using the SDDC Manager UI.
  • On the SDDC Manager appliance, use the Bundle Transfer Utility to generate the plannerFile.json.
  • Copy plannerFile.json to the computer with internet access.
  • On the computer with access to the internet, download bundles using plannerFile.json.
  • Copy the bundle directory to the SDDC Manager appliance and use the Bundle Transfer Utility to upload the bundles to the internal LCM repository.
If the computer with internet access can only access the internet using a proxy server, use the following options when downloading:
Option Description
--proxyServer, --ps Provide the proxy server FQDN and port.

For example: --proxyServer proxy.example.com:3128.
--proxyHttps Add this option if the proxy server uses HTTPs.
--proxyUser For a proxy server that requires authentication, enter the user name.
--proxyPasswordFile For a proxy server that requires authentication, enter the path to a file where the password for proxy authentication is stored. The file content is used as the proxy password.

For example, --proxyPasswordFile ../../password.txt.
Example that combines the options: 
./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --download --manifestDownload --depotUser Username --proxyServer proxy.example.com:3128 --proxyUser vmwuser --proxyPasswordFile ../../password.txt --proxyHttps

Prerequisites

  • A Windows or Linux computer with internet connectivity (either directly or through a proxy) for downloading the bundles and other required files.
  • A Windows or Linux computer with access to the SDDC Manager appliance for uploading the bundles.
  • To upload the manifest file from a Windows computer, you must have OpenSSL installed and configured.
  • Configure TCP keepalive in your SSH client to prevent socket connection timeouts when using the Bundle Transfer Utility for long-running operations.
  • The computer with internet connectivity and the SDDC Manager appliance must all have the latest version of the Bundle Transfer Utility installed and configured. See Offline Download of VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.x Upgrade Bundles for more information.

Procedure

  1. Download the required files to the computer with internet access. 
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --download --manifestDownload --depotUser Username  --outputDirectory directory-path
    The manifest is a structured metadata file that contains information about the VMware product versions included in the release Bill of Materials.

    For --depotUser, enter your Broadcom Support Portal user name.

    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --download --bundleManifests --depotUser Username  --bundleManifestsDir directory-path
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --download --compatibilityMatrix --depotUser Username --pdu dell_depot_email  --outputDirectory directory-path
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --depotUser Username --download productVersionCatalog  --outputDirectory directory-path
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --depotUser Username --download partnerBundleMetadata
  2. Copy the entire output directory to the SDDC Manager appliance.
    You can select any location on the SDDC Manager appliance that has enough free space available. For example, /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/.
  3. On the SDDC Manager appliance, upload/update the files. 
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --update --sourceManifestDirectory directory-path --sddcMgrFqdn FQDN --sddcMgrUser Username
    Use your vSphere SSO credentials for the --sddcMgrUser parameter. 
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload --bundleManifests --bundleManifestsDir directory-path
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --update --compatibilityMatrix --inputDirectory directory-path --sddcMgrFqdn FQDN --sddcMgrUser Username

    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload productVersionCatalog --inputDirectory directory-path --sddcMgrFqdn FQDN --sddcMgrUser Username
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload partnerBundleMetadata --inputDirectory directory-path --sddcMgrFqdn FQDN --sddcMgrUser Username
  4. In the SDDC Manager UI, plan the upgrade.
    See Flexible BOM Upgrade in VMware Cloud Foundation.
  5. On the SDDC Manager appliance, use the Bundle Transfer Utility to generate a planner file. 
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --generatePlannerFile --sddcMgrUser Username --sddcMgrFqdn FQDN --outputDirectory directory-path --domainNames domain-name -p target-vcf-version
    For example: 
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --generatePlannerFile --sddcMgrUser [email protected] --sddcMgrFqdn sddc-manager.example.com --outputDirectory /home/vcd --domainNames mgmt-domain -p 5.2.0.0
  6. Copy plannerFile.json file to the computer with access to the internet.
  7. On the computer with access to the internet, download the bundles using the plannerFile.json. 
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --download downloadPartnerBundle --plannerFile directory-path --depotUser Username --partnerDepotUser dell_depot_email
  8. Copy the entire output directory to the SDDC Manager appliance.
  9. If you downloaded VxRail bundles:
    1. Copy the partner bundle to the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/bundle/depot/local/bundles directory on the SDDC Manager appliance.
    2. Copy partnerBundleMetadata.json to the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/bundle/depot/local directory on the SDDC Manager appliance.
    3. Copy softwareCompatibilitySets.json to the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/bundle/depot/local directory on the SDDC Manager appliance.
    4. Run following commands on the SDDC Manager appliance: 
      chown -R vcf_lcm:vcf /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/bundle/depot/local
      chmod -R 755 /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/bundle/depot/local
  10. Upload the bundle directory to the SDDC Manager appliance internal LCM repository. 
    ./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload "uploadPartnerBundle" --bundleDirectory directory-path

What to do next

In the SDDC Manager UI browse to the Available Updates screen for the workload domain you are upgrading and click Schedule Update or Update Now to update the first component. Continue to update the VCF BOM components until they are all updated.