Missing Ubuntu OSImage in TMC When Using vSphere 8 and Kubernetes 1.28.8

Products

• VMware Tanzu Mission Control
• Tanzu Kubernetes Runtime
• VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0

Issue/Introduction

When using Tanzu Mission Control (TMC) with vSphere and Supervisor 8 |TKG Service to create new workload clusters on Kubernetes version 1.28.8, only the Photon OS appears as a selectable option even though Ubuntu OS images were uploaded to the vSphere content library.

This behavior occurs despite having successfully imported the required OS VM templates into the content library and expecting them to be available for provisioning via TMC.

Environment

• vCenter: 8.0.3, Build 24322831
• Supervisor Cluster: v1.27.5+vmware.1-fips.1-vsc0.1.8-23388239
• Target TKR: v1.28.8+vmware.1-fips.1-tkg.2
• TMC (Tanzu Mission Control) SaaS 
• OS Images: Photon and Ubuntu templates present in content library

Environment

• VMware Tanzu Mission Controlcancel
• Tanzu Kubernetes Runtime (Tanzu Kubernetes Runtime)cancel
• VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service) 
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0 (VMware vCenter Server 8.0)

Cause

This issue occurs because in vSphere 8 environments, Tanzu Kubernetes Releases (TKRs) are no longer split by operating system. Instead, a single TKR version (e.g., 1.28.8) references multiple Virtual Machine Images (VMIs), one for each OS type (e.g., Photon, Ubuntu).

In environments running TKG Service versions earlier than 3.1, a known issue can prevent all expected VMI references from being properly created when the TKR is first registered. As a result, even though Ubuntu VM templates are available in the content library, the associated Ubuntu osimage is never populated.

This leads to the observed behavior: only Photon appears in TMC, and Ubuntu is missing.

Resolution

To resolve this, you must delete and allow the Supervisor Cluster to auto-recreate the affected TKR. This forces a fresh reconciliation of the TKR and will correctly associate both Photon and Ubuntu VMIs.

Step-by-step Instructions

1. Connect to the Supervisor Cluster context in your Kubernetes CLI.
2. Locate the affected TKR version:
   • Run the following to confirm the TKR exists:
   • kubectl get tkr | grep v1.28.8
3. Delete the existing TKR:
   • kubectl delete tkr v1.28.8+vmware.1-fips.1-tkg.2
   • (Update the version string as needed to match your environment)
4. Wait a few minutes for the TKR to be automatically re-created.
   • Then run:
   • kubectl get tkr | grep v1.28.8
   • kubectl get tkr <tkr> -o yaml
   • to confirm it has returned.
5. Verify that all expected osimage entries are now present:
   • kubectl get osimage | grep v1.28.8
   • You should now see entries for both Photon and Ubuntu VMIs.
6. Return to TMC and confirm that both Ubuntu and Photon operating systems are selectable when provisioning clusters for Kubernetes version 1.28.8.

Important:

Deleting the TKR does not affect running clusters and does not trigger a rolling update. This operation only affects metadata used by the platform to define image availability.

After completing the steps above, you should be able to:

• Select both Ubuntu and Photon when provisioning a new cluster through TMC for Kubernetes 1.28.8.

This workaround addresses the missing OSImage references and restores the expected multi-OS support in TMC.

Additional Information

• Unable to Upgrade vSphere Supervisor Workload Cluster - No Updates Available/Updates Available is Blank or Desired TKR is not Available due to Missing OsImage