SDDC stack shutdown and startup sequence for VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x and 5.x
Article ID: 395930
Updated On:
Products
VCF Operations/Automation (formerly VMware Aria Suite)
Issue/Introduction
This article provides the mandatory operational sequence for shutting down and starting up components within a VMware Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) stack managed by VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF).
Symptoms
- Planning a datacenter move or maintenance window requiring a full environment power-off.
- vCenter Server fails to initialize services because it cannot resolve its own FQDN or management hosts while DNS servers are offline.
- Hosts fail to enter Maintenance Mode due to active vSphere Cluster Services (vCLS) VMs.
Environment
- VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x / 5.x
- VMware vSphere 7.x / 8.x
- VMware vSAN
- VMware Aria Suite
Resolution
Before starting, ensure a valid file-based backup of the vCenter Server and SDDC Manager exists.
DNS Dependency Mitigation
If Active Directory or DNS servers are hosted on the cluster being shut down, vCenter may fail to start services upon power-on.
- Log in to vCenter via SSH.
- Add static entries to /etc/hosts for the vCenter FQDN and all management ESXi hosts.
- Perform the same on management ESXi hosts to ensure they can resolve the vCenter FQDN.
1. DNS Dependency Mitigation
If Active Directory or DNS servers are hosted on the cluster being shut down, vCenter may fail to start services upon power-on.
- Log in to vCenter via SSH.
- Add static entries to /etc/hosts for the vCenter FQDN and all management ESXi hosts.
- Add the vCenter FQDN to the /etc/hosts file on each management ESXi host.
2. Shutdown Sequence for SDDC manager workload domain and management domain:
- VI Workload Domain:
- Shut down customer workloads.
- Place vCLS into Retreat Mode (required for vSphere 8.x/VCF 5.x).
- Shut down Workload vCenter, NSX Edges, and NSX Managers.
- Place hosts in Maintenance Mode (use Ensure Accessibility for vSAN).
- Management Domain:
- Shut down Aria Suite components (Automation, Operations, Lifecycle).
- Shut down NSX Managers and SDDC Manager.
- Shut down Management vCenter.
- Power off management ESXi hosts.
3. Startup Sequence
- Management Domain:
- Power on management ESXi hosts.
- Power on Management vCenter.
- Power on DNS/AD VMs to restore name resolution.
- Power on SDDC Manager and NSX components.
- VI Workload Domain:
- Power on VI Workload ESXi hosts.
- Power on VI Workload vCenter.
- Disable Retreat Mode for vCLS.
- Power on customer workloads.
A - If this is not a VCF SDDC Manager managed environment:
Shutdown procedure:
| Shutdown Order | SDDC Component |
| 1 | Containerized customer workloads |
| 2 | Find out the location of the vSphere with Tanzu virtual machines * |
| 3 | vSphere Cluster Services virtual machines |
| 4 | Supervisor Cluster Control Plane virtual machines |
| 5 | Tanzu Kubernetes cluster control plane virtual machines |
| 6 | Tanzu Kubernetes cluster worker node virtual machines |
| 7 | Harbor virtual machines |
| 8 | Aria Automation Cluster |
| 9 | Aria Operations for Logs |
| 10 | Aria Operations cluster and Collectors |
| 11 | Clustered Workspace ONE Access * (VIDM) |
| 12 | VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle™ |
| 13 | Site Recovery Manager |
| 14 | vSphere Replication |
| 15 | NSX Edge nodes * |
| 16 | NSX Manager nodes * |
| 17 | vCenter Server * |
| 18 | ESXi hosts |
Startup Procedure:
| Startup Order | SDDC Component |
| 1 | ESXi host(s) |
| 2 | vCenter Server |
| 3 | vCLS virtual machines |
| 4 | NSX Manager nodes |
| 5 | NSX Edge nodes * |
| 6 | vSphere Replication |
| 7 | Site Recovery Manager |
| 8 | VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle * |
| 9 | Clustered Workspace ONE Access * |
| 10 | Aria Operations Analytics cluster and remote collectors |
| 11 | Aria Operations for Logs |
| 12 | Aria Automation Cluster |
| 13 | Started automatically after you start vCenter Server and vCLS, and NSX for the VI workload domain:
|
| 14 | Containerized customer workloads |
B - If this is a VCF SDDC Manager managed environment:
Shutdown the VMware Cloud Foundation Stack:
Click here for reference.
1. Shut Down order for a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain with vSphere with Tanzu:
Click here for reference.
| Shutdown Order | SDDC Component |
| 1 | Containerized customer workloads |
| 2 | Find out the location of the vSphere with Tanzu virtual machines * |
| 3 | vSphere Cluster Services virtual machines in the VI workload domain * |
| 4 | vCenter Server for the VI workload domain * |
| 5 | Supervisor Cluster Control Plane virtual machines |
| 6 | Tanzu Kubernetes cluster control plane virtual machines |
| 7 | Tanzu Kubernetes cluster worker node virtual machines |
| 8 | Harbor virtual machines |
| 9 | NSX Edge nodes in the VI workload domain * |
| 10 | NSX Manager nodes for the VI workload domain * |
| 11 | vSAN and ESXi hosts in the VI workload domain * |
2. Shutdown Management Cluster:
Click here for reference.
| Shutdown Order | SDDC Component |
| 1 | Aria Automation Cluster |
| 2 | Aria Operations for Logs |
| 3 | Aria Operations Analytics cluster and remote collectors |
| 4 | Clustered Workspace ONE Access * (VIDM) |
| 5 | VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle™ |
| 6 | Site Recovery Manager for the management domain |
| 7 | vSphere Replication for the management domain |
| 8 | NSX Edge nodes for the management domain * |
| 9 | NSX Manager nodes for the management domain * |
| 10 | SDDC Manager * |
| 11 | vSphere Cluster Services, vCenter Server for the management domain, management ESXi hosts and vSAN * |
Starting Up VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Stack
Click here for reference.
1. Start the Management Domain
Click here for reference.
| Startup Order | SDDC Component |
| 1 | Management ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, vSphere Cluster Services, and vSAN * |
| 2 | SDDC Manager * |
| 3 | NSX Manager nodes for the management domain * |
| 4 | NSX Edge nodes for the management domain * |
| 5 | vSphere Replication for the management domain |
| 6 | Site Recovery Manager for the management domain |
| 7 | VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle * |
| 8 | Clustered Workspace ONE Access * |
| 9 | Aria Operations Analytics cluster and remote collectors |
| 10 | Aria Operations for Logs |
| 11 | Aria Automation Cluster |
2. Start a Virtual Infrastructure Workload Domain with vSphere with Tanzu
Click here for reference
| Startup Order | SDDC Component |
| 1 | ESXi hosts and vSAN for the VI workload domain |
| 2 | vCenter Server for the VI workload domain |
| 3 | vCLS virtual machines |
| 4 | NSX Manager nodes for the VI workload domain |
| 5 | NSX Edge nodes for the VI workload domain |
| 6 | Started automatically after you start vCenter Server and vCLS, and NSX for the VI workload domain. Supervisor Control Plane virtual machines:
|
| 7 | Containerized customer workloads |
Additional Information
- Contact Support: To speak with a customer representative or a Support Engineer see: . Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your respective region.
- For automated shutdown via SDDC Manager, refer to https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vcf/vcf-5-2-and-earlier/5-1/vmware-cloud-foundation-operations-5-1/vcf-shutdown-and-startup-operations.html
- Update vSphere 8.x: Explicitly mention that for vSphere 8.x, vCLS must be placed into Retreat Mode before hosts can enter Maintenance Mode.
- Update vSAN: Note that for vSAN clusters, the "Ensure Accessibility" option is preferred over "Full Data Evacuation" to keep the maintenance window concise.
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