VMware Cloud on AWS (VMConAWS) and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC Migration from N-VDS to VDS
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VMware Cloud on AWS (VMConAWS) and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC Migration from N-VDS to VDS

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Article ID: 329943

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Updated On:

Products

VMware Cloud on AWS

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on the planned transition from N-VDS (NSX Virtual Distributed Switch) to Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS) in the VMware Cloud on AWS (VMConAWS) and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC solutions. It also provides VMConAWS specific API changes to enable customers and partners who are using them will be able to make the transition to the VDS API calls.
 

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Customer SDDCs being upgraded to 1.16 from previous releases will need to work with the support team to schedule a maintenance operation. It is recommended that this second maintenance operation should be scheduled one week or more after the initial upgrade to 1.16. During this operation the SDDC will be migrated from N-VDS to VDS. It is recommended that during this maintenance operation that no networking changes are made to facilitate a smooth migration. Hosts will be placed in maintenance mode and guests moved from N-VDS to VDS using vMotion to minimize workload disruption. Estimated time to complete the migration will be provided by the support team as it will vary depending on the number of networks and hosts in the SDDC. The VDS maintenance is similar to SDDC maintenance Phase 2 with maintenance mode methodology.

Note: This second maintenance operation must be completed before the SDDC can be upgraded to 1.18.

 
 


Resolution

For background on the history of N-VDS detailed API and UI changes for on-premises NSX-T as well as a detailed explanation of opaque networks compared to Distributed Virtual Port Groups (DVPGs), refer to this KB 79872.

VMware Cloud on AWS (VMConAWS) and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC are managed services and many of the configuration options that are specific to on-premises NSX-T deployments are not available to VMConAWS and VMC on Dell EMC customers as VMware manages those configurations. The simplicity and ease of use of VMConAWS and VMC on Dell EMC reduces the need for customers to work with some of the lower level configuration.
However, there are a few changes that will be present for customers to manage and therefore, be aware of and plan for. These are enumerated below.


There are some changes you need to be aware of:

  • Existing opaque network will be replaced by NSX DVPG after upgrading.
  • The backing of VM VNIC will be changed from "OpaqueNetworkBackingInfo" to "DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo" if it connected to an opaque network before upgrading.
  • The config of vmk nic will be changed from "opaqueNetworkspecify" to "distributedVirtualPort".
 
Object/APIPropertyNewly AddedvSphere DVPGNSX DVPG
DistributedVirtualPortgroupConfigInfo.transportZoneUuidYesUnset 
 ConfigInfo.transportZoneNameYesUnset 
 ConfigInfo.logicalSwitchUuidYesUnset 
 ConfigInfo.segmentIdYesUnset 
Connect VM VNIC to target network  Use
vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo to specify the target network.
 User needs to provide switchUuid and portgroupKey.
(1) Use vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo to specify the target network. User needs to provide switchUuid and portgroupKey(Same as normal DVPG).
OR
(2) Use
vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.OpaqueNetworkBackingInfo
User needs to provide
opaqueNetworkId and
opaqueNetworkType(Same as Opaque Network).
 
Read VM VNIC backing  API returns vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfoAPI returns 
vim.vm.device.VirtualEthernetCard.DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo(same as normal DVPG), DistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo/OpaqueNetworkBackingInfo to connect the VM VNIC to the network.
Read vmk backing  API returns vim.host.VirtualNic.Specification.distributedVirtualPortAPI returns 
vim.host.VirtualNic.Specification.distributedVirtualPort(Same as normal DVPG), distributedVirtualPort/opaqueNetworkspecify to connect the vmk nic to the network.


Additionally, the vCenter User Interface network objects will change as depicted below.

Figure 1 – Opaque Network in VMConAWS and VMC on Dell EMC

Figure 2 – Distributed Port Group in VMConAWS and VMC on Dell EMC

 
 

2nd and 3rd Party Products and Applications with VDS Support

The table below reflects the minimum version of 2nd and 3rd party products and applications with VDS support.

2nd Party Product NameSupported Version
AnsibleNSX-T 3.0.0
AVI Load BalancerAVI 20.1.1
BOSH CPI54.1.0
Datrium7.21.4.0
Horizon 7/87.13 or 8.1
HCXHCX 4.2.4
PowerCLIPowerCLI 12.0
Terraform NSX-T ProviderNSX-T Provider 3.0
VMware Cloud Director (vCD)10.1.1
VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)VCF J1
VMware Pivotal Container Service (PKS)PKS 1.8
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)8.3.1
VMware Tanzu Application Service (TAS)TAS 2.9.2
VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG)N/A
vRealize Automation (vRA) Greenfield8.1
vRealize Automation (vRA) Brownfield8.5
vRealize Network Insight (vRNI)vRNI 5.2
vRealize Operations (vROPS)vROPS 8.2
VxRailVxRail 7.0.0
  
3rd Party Product NameSupported Version
ClumioSaaS
CohesitySaaS
Commvault11.19
DruvaSaaS
Embotics vCommanderContact your vendor
EMC AvamarContact your vendor
EMC NetworkerContact your vendor
EMC PowerProtectContact your vendor
EMC Unity VSAContact your vendor
IBM Spectrum Protect8.1.12
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus10.1.8
Primary IOContact your vendor
Rubrik5.3
Terraform vSphere ProvidervSphere Provider 1.17.1
Veeam11.0
Veritas BackupExec21.2
VMware Safekeeping (open source)Source code updated
 

Summary

The VMware Cloud on AWS and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC services will be migrating from N-VDS to VDS by the VMConAWS and VMware Cloud on Dell EMC releases in Q1 Calendar Year 2022. This migration is expected to be transparent to the vast majority of customers with only the few API and UI changes mentioned above being customer facing.