After you deploy the vCenter Server appliance, vSphere Lifecycle Manager becomes immediately visible in the vSphere Client.

The vSphere Lifecycle Manager user interface has two main views, which for convenience this guide calls the home view and the compliance view.

vSphere Lifecycle Manager Home View

The vSphere Lifecycle Manager home view is where you configure and administer the vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance that runs on your vCenter Server system. You go to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager home view to configure how vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines and images work.

You do not need any special privilege to access the vSphere Lifecycle Manager home view.

To access the vSphere Lifecycle Manager home view in the vSphere Client, select Menu > Lifecycle Manager.

In the vSphere Lifecycle Manager home view, you specify the vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance that you want to administer by selecting a vCenter Server system from the drop-down menu at the top of the Lifecycle Manager pane.

In the Lifecycle Manager pane, you have the following top-level tabs: Image Depot, Updates, Imported ISOs, Baselines, and Settings.

You use the Image Depot tab when you work vSphere Lifecycle Manager images. You use the Updates, Imported ISOs, and Baselines tabs when you work with vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines. For more information about the Image Depot, Updates, and Imported ISOs tabs, see Browsing the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot.

The Settings tab is where you configure all vSphere Lifecycle Manager remediation settings and download sources. You use the Settings tab with both vSphere Lifecycle Manager images and baselines. For more information about how to configure the vSphere Lifecycle Manager settings, see vSphere Lifecycle Manager Remediation Settings.

In the vSphere Lifecycle Manager home view, you can perform the following tasks:
  • Browse the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot.
  • Trigger the synchronization of updates with the configured online depots.
  • Trigger the synchronization of hardware compatibility data.
  • Import offline depots manually.
  • Import ISO images to use for the creation of upgrade baselines.
  • Create and manage baselines and baseline groups.
  • Configure the default vSphere Lifecycle Manager download source.
  • Add a URL to an online depot to the list of download sources.
  • Allow or disallow downloading from a download source.
  • Configure host remediation settings.
  • Configure virtual machine rollback settings.

vSphere Lifecycle Manager Compliance View

The vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view is where you perform the major vSphere Lifecycle Manager operations - checking the compliance of ESXi hosts against a baseline or an image, staging, remediation pre-checks, remediation, and so on.

You go to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view to actually use the vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines and images on your clusters and hosts.

To access the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view in the vSphere Client, you must have the View Compliance Status privilege.

Generally, the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view is on the Updates tab for a selected object.

Depending on the selected object and whether you use baselines or images to manage the object, you access the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view in two different ways.
  • To access the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view for a host or a cluster that you manage with baselines, go to the Updates tab for the object and select Baselines.

    In the Baselines pane of the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view, you can perform the following tasks:

    • Check the compliance status of ESXi hosts and clusters against baselines or baseline groups.
    • Attach and detach baselines and baseline groups to hosts and clusters.
    • Generate a remediation pre-check report that lists recommended actions to ensure successful remediation.
    • Stage patches or extensions to hosts.
    • Check the compliance status of ESXi hosts against an image.
    • Remediate hosts against baselines and baseline groups.
    • Remediate hosts that are part of a vSAN cluster against system-managed baselines.
  • To access the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view for a cluster or a standalone host that you manage with a single image, go to the Updates tab for the object and select Image.

    In the Image pane of the vSphere Lifecycle Manager compliance view, you can perform the following tasks:

    • Export, import, and edit the image that the cluster or the standalone host use.
    • Upgrade the firmware of the ESXi hosts in the cluster or the standalone host.
    • Check for and view recommended images for the cluster or the standalone host.
    • Check the hardware compatibility for a selected ESXi version against vSAN HCL.
    • Check the compliance status of the ESXi hosts in the cluster or the standalone host against the image.
    • Run a remediation pre-check to ensure successful remediation.
    • Remediate the ESXi hosts against the image that the cluster or the standalone host use.

On the Updates tab, you can also perform other tasks.

  • Under Hosts, select Hardware Compatibility to check the hardware compatibility of a host against the VMware Compatibility Guide.
  • Under Hosts, select VMware Tools or VM Hardware to check the status of virtual machines and upgrade the VMware Tools version or the virtual hardware version of the virtual machines.

vSphere Lifecycle Manager and vCenter Server Single Sign-On Domain

If your vCenter Server system is connected to other vCenter Server systems by a common vCenter Single Sign-On domain, you can configure the settings for each vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance. The modifications to the settings are applied only to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance that you specify and are not propagated to the other instances in the group. Similarly, you can use vSphere Lifecycle Manager to perform compliance and status checks, and remediate only those inventory objects that are managed by the vCenter Server system where the respective vSphere Lifecycle Manager instance runs.