Use this list of requirements for reference related to life cycle management in a VMware Cloud Foundation environment.

For full design details, see Lifecycle Management Design for VMware Cloud Foundation.

Table 1. Lifecycle Management Design Requirements for VMware Cloud Foundation

Requirement ID

Design Requirement

Justification

Implication

VCF-LCM-REQD-001

Use SDDC Manager to perform the life cycle management of the following components:

  • SDDC Manager

  • NSX Manager

  • NSX Edges

  • vCenter Server

  • ESXi

Because the deployment scope of SDDC Manager covers the full VMware Cloud Foundation stack, SDDC Manager performs patching, update, or upgrade of these components across all workload domains.

The operations team must understand and be aware of the impact of a patch, update, or upgrade operation by using SDDC Manager.

VCF-LCM-REQD-002

Use VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle to manage the life cycle of the following components:

  • VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle

  • Workspace ONE Access

VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle automates the life cycle of VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle and Workspace ONE Access.

  • You must deploy VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle by using SDDC Manager.

  • You must manually apply Workspace ONE Access patches, updates, and hotfixes. Patches, updates, and hotfixes for Workspace ONE Access are not generally managed by VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle.
Table 2. Lifecycle Management Design Recommendations for VMware Cloud Foundation

Requirement ID

Design Recommendations

Justification

Implication

VCF-LCM-RCMD-001

Use vSphere Lifecycle Manager images to manage the life cycle of vSphere clusters.

  • With vSphere Lifecycle Manager images, firmware updates are carried out through firmware and driver add-ons, which you add to the image you use to manage a cluster.

  • You can check the hardware compatibility of the hosts in a cluster against the VMware Compatibility Guide.

  • You can validate a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image to check if it applies to all hosts in the cluster. You can also perform a remediation pre-check.

  • Updating the firmware with images requires an OEM-provided hardware support manager plug-in, which integrates with vSphere Lifecycle Manager.

  • An updated vSAN Hardware Compatibility List (vSAN HCL) is required during bring-up.
Table 3. Lifecycle Management Design Requirements for NSX Federation in VMware Cloud Foundation

Requirement ID

Design Requirement

Justification

Implication

VCF-LCM-REQD-003

Use the upgrade coordinator in NSX to perform life cycle management on the NSX Global Manager appliances.

The version of SDDC Manager in this design is not currently capable of life cycle operations (patching, update, or upgrade) for NSX Global Manager.

  • You must explicitly plan upgrades of the NSX Global Manager nodes. An upgrade of the NSX Global Manager nodes might require a cascading upgrade of the NSX Local Manager nodes and underlying SDDC Manager infrastructure before upgrading the NSX Global Manager nodes.

  • You must always align the version of the NSX Global Manager nodes with the rest of the SDDC stack in VMware Cloud Foundation.

VCF-LCM-REQD-004

Establish an operations practice to ensure that prior to the upgrade of any workload domain, the impact of any version upgrades is evaluated in relation to the need to upgrade NSX Global Manager.

The versions of NSX Global Manager and NSX Local Manager nodes must be compatible with each other.

Because SDDC Manager does not provide life cycle operations (patching, update, or upgrade) for the NSX Global Manager nodes, upgrade to an unsupported version cannot be prevented.

The administrator must establish and follow an operations practice by using a runbook or automated process to ensure a fully supported and compliant bill of materials prior to any upgrade operation.

VCF-LCM-REQD-005

Establish an operations practice to ensure that prior to the upgrade of the NSX Global Manager, the impact of any version change is evaluated against the existing NSX Local Manager nodes and workload domains.

The versions of NSX Global Manager and NSX Local Manager nodes must be compatible with each other.

Because SDDC Manager does not provide life cycle operations (patching, update, or upgrade) for the NSX Global Manager nodes, upgrade to an unsupported version cannot be prevented.

The administrator must establish and follow an operations practice by using a runbook or automated process to ensure a fully supported and compliant bill of materials prior to any upgrade operation.