Managing large-scale VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) environments can be challenging, especially when it comes to adding multiple hosts. The bulk commission feature, which uses a JSON template, simplifies this process significantly, making it more efficient and error-free. In this blog, we’ll walk through how to commission hosts in VCF using the bulk commission method with JSON, along with screenshots for each step.

Why Use Bulk Commission?

1. Efficiency: Quickly add multiple hosts without repetitive manual steps.
2. Consistency: Ensure all hosts are configured according to predefined standards.
3. Scalability: Ideal for large environments, reducing administrative overhead.

Step-by-Step Guide to Bulk Commission Hosts Using JSON

Step 1: Prepare the JSON Template

First, create a JSON file that includes the details of the hosts you want to commission. Here’s an example template:

{
    "hostsSpec": [
        {
            "hostfqdn": "wd1-cls1-esx1.test.com",
            "username": "root",
            "storageType": "VSAN",
            "password": "password",
            "networkPoolName": "wd1-cls1-networkpool-001"
        },
        {
            "hostfqdn": "wd1-cls1-esx2.test.com",
            "username": "root",
            "storageType": "VSAN",
            "password": "password",
            "networkPoolName": "wd1-cls1-networkpool-001"
        },
        {
            "hostfqdn": "wd1-cls1-esx3.test.com",
            "username": "root",
            "storageType": "VSAN",
            "password": "password",
            "networkPoolName": "wd1-cls1-networkpool-001"
        }
    ]
}

Ensure that each host meets the necessary criteria for VCF, such as compliance with the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide.

Step 2: Upload the JSON Template to SDDC Manager

1. Log in to the SDDC Manager.
2. Navigate to the ‘Hosts’ section.
3. Click on ‘Commission Hosts’.
4. ‘Select All’ in the checklist and click on Proceed
5. Click on ‘Import’ and Upload the JSON file containing your host details.

Step 3: Validate and Commission the Hosts

1. SDDC Manager will validate the JSON template and the hosts listed.
2. Review the validation results. If any issues are found, correct them in the JSON file and re-upload.
3. Confirm the commissioning to proceed with adding the hosts to the SDDC Manager.

Step 4: Monitor the Commissioning Process

1. Monitor the progress in the SDDC Manager dashboard.
2. Check for any errors or warnings during the process and resolve them as needed.

Conclusion

Using the bulk commission feature in VMware Cloud Foundation with a JSON template streamlines the process of adding multiple hosts, making it faster and more reliable. This method not only enhances efficiency but also ensures consistency across your infrastructure. By following these steps, you can easily scale up your VCF environment with minimal effort.

This blog post guides you through replacing the certificate for your Harbor registry deployed on a Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) cluster using Helm charts. We’ll assume you’re using VCD version 10.5.1 and Container Service Extension (CSE) version 4.2.

Understanding the Need for Certificate Replacement

Harbor certificates, like any security certificate, may need to be replaced due to expiration, security upgrades, or changes in your PKI infrastructure. This process ensures secure communication within your container registry.

Prerequisites

• Access to your TKG cluster and kubectl CLI.
• New certificate and key files (harbor-v2.crt and harbor-v2.key).

Steps:

1. Create a New Secret:

• We’ll store the new certificate and key in a Kubernetes secret for secure management. Use the kubectl create secret tls command to create a secret named harbor-secret-v2:

   kubectl create secret tls harbor-secret-v2 --cert=harbor-v2.crt --key=harbor-v2.key --namespace=harbor-system

Replace harbor-v2.crt and harbor-v2.key with the actual filenames of your certificate and key files.

2. Update the values.yaml file:

• The values.yaml file defines various configurations for your Harbor deployment. Locate this file from your initial Harbor deployment process.
• Edit the values.yaml file to point to the newly created secret. Look for the certSource section and update it to use secrets:

   certSource: secret
   secret:
     secretName: "harbor-secret-v2"

This configures Harbor to use the certificate and key stored in the harbor-secret-v2 secret.

3. Upgrade Harbor with the New Configuration:

• Deploy the updated configuration with the new certificate using the helm upgrade command:

   helm upgrade harbor harbor -n harbor-system -f ./values.yaml

This command upgrades the harbor deployment in the harbor-system namespace using the configuration specified in the updated values.yaml file.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you’ve successfully replaced the certificate for your Harbor registry deployed on your TKG cluster. Remember to update your Harbor clients or local configurations to reflect the new certificate details for continued secure communication.

Virtual Graphics Processing Units (vGPUs) are a game-changer for cloud deployments, enabling high-performance graphics processing for workloads like 3D design, video editing, and AI applications within virtual machines (VMs). VMware Cloud Director (VCD) streamlines vGPU management through vGPU policies, allowing you to define the allocation of these powerful resources to your VMs.

This blog post will guide you through creating a vGPU policy in VCD, ensuring your VMs have the graphics horsepower they need:

Prerequisites:

• Access to the VCD Provider Portal with administrative privileges.
• Pre-configured vGPU profiles in VCD. These profiles represent the different types of vGPUs available in your environment, typically created from the capabilities of your underlying vSphere cluster with NVIDIA GPUs.

Creating a vGPU Policy:

• Log in to the VCD Provider Portal with your administrative credentials.
• Verify vGPU Profile Visibility: Navigate to Infrastructure Resources > vGPU Profiles. Ensure the vGPU profiles corresponding to your available GPUs are listed here. If not, you’ll need to create them beforehand (refer to your VCD documentation for specific steps).

• Create the vGPU Policy:
  • Go to Cloud Resources > vGPU Policies.
  • Click New.
  • On the “What is a vGPU Policy?” screen, click Next.

• Define Policy Details:
  • Name: Enter a descriptive name for your vGPU policy. Ideally, match it to the vGPU profile it references for clarity (e.g., “High Performance vGPU”).

• vGPU Profile: Select the vGPU profile that defines the type and capabilities of the vGPU to be assigned.

• Provider VDC Scope : Choose the PVDC has access to the poloicy.

• Placement: Choose No for placement flexibility. You can assign this policy to VMs and let VCD determine optimal placement based on available resources.

• Sizing: Select No for sizing flexibility. You can configure VM CPU, memory, and storage independently during VM deployment.

• Finalize the Policy:
  • Select the Organization VDC where you want this policy to be available.
  • Review the policy details on the “Ready to Complete” screen and click Finish to create the vGPU policy.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a vGPU policy in VCD. Now, when deploying VMs in the chosen Organization VDC, you can assign this policy to provide the necessary vGPU power for your graphics-intensive workloads.

Additional Considerations:

• You can create multiple vGPU policies with different vGPU profiles to cater to varying VM requirements.
• For more granular control, explore the options for placement and sizing policies within VCD, allowing you to define specific placement rules and resource allocation for vGPU-enabled VMs.

By leveraging vGPU policies, you can efficiently manage and allocate vGPU resources within your VCD environment, empowering your tenants with the graphics processing capabilities they need for their demanding workloads.

• Login to VMware Cloud Director tenant/provider portal.
• Access console of the k8s master node.
• Login as root. You can find the root user password in Guest customization section of the VM in VMware Cloud Director.
• Open /etc/sshd/sshd_config
• In the file, find the PasswordAuthentication line and make sure it ends with yes.
• Save the file and exit.
• Restart the SSH service by typing the following command:

sudo systemctl restart sshd

• Its good to create a user for ssh login rather than enabling root login over ssh.

#useradd kube
#passwd kube

• You can ssh to the master node with kube user and do ‘su -‘.