VCF Fleet Manager binary missing during VCF 9.1 download

Products

• VCF Operations

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to download binaries for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1.0.0 using the VCF Download Tool, the following symptoms occur:

• Most VCF 9.1 binaries download successfully.
• The VCF Operations Fleet Manager (formerly the standalone Fleet Management appliance) is notably missing from the available binaries or download results.
• Users may be unable to find a monolithic Fleet Manager OVA or binary in the component list.

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1.0
• VCF Download Tool (versions 9.0.x and earlier)

Cause

This issue is caused by an architectural shift in VCF 9.1 and the use of an outdated version of the download tool:

1. In VCF 9.1, the standalone VCF Operations Fleet Management appliance has been permanently deprecated. It is no longer a separate OVA and is not part of the VCF 9.1 Bill of Materials (BOM).
2. Fleet management capabilities have been natively converged into VCF Operations and the new Kubernetes-based VCF Management Services (VMSP) platform. Lifecycle duties are now handled by containerized microservices (Fleet lifecycle and SDDC lifecycle) running on the VCF Services Runtime (VSP).
3. Older versions of the VCF Download Tool (e.g., 9.0.1.0) are not aware of the VCF 9.1 component structure and the transition to containerized management services.

Resolution

To resolve this issue and retrieve the necessary binaries for VCF 9.1, perform the following steps:

1. Upgrade the VCF Download Tool

• Ensure you are using the VCF Download Tool version 9.1 or higher. The 9.0.x versions of the tool will not correctly identify the 9.1 component mapping.
• You can obtain the latest version by logging into support.broadcom.com > My Downloads > search for Cloud Foundation > Click VMware Cloud Foundation > VMware Cloud Foundation 9 > 9.1.0.0 > Drivers & Tools

2. Identify New Management Components

You must download the specific containerized management components required to bootstrap the VMSP cluster. These include:

• VCF_FLEET_LCM: Fleet-level lifecycle orchestration.
• VCF_SDDC_LCM: Instance-level lifecycle operations.
• VSP: VCF Services Runtime (the foundational Kubernetes hosting architecture).
• DEPOT_SERVICE: Service required for local binary management.

3. Execute Download via CLI

When using the VCF Download Tool CLI, utilize the --component filter to target the new microservices.

Example Syntax: Review this command before running it.

./vcf-download-tool binaries download --sku VCF --vcf-version 9.1.0.0 \
  --component VCF_FLEET_LCM,VCF_SDDC_LCM,VSP,DEPOT_SERVICE \
  --depot-download-activation-code-file [PATH_TO_ACTIVATION_CODE] \
  --type INSTALL --depot-store [PATH_TO_DOWNLOAD_LOCATION]

 

Additional Information

In VCF 9.1, the newly introduced Fleet lifecycle and SDDC lifecycle components perform the functionality previously held by the VCF Operations fleet management appliance. The legacy appliance is decommissioned during the upgrade process.

After upgrading VCF Operations to 9.1, you cannot manage certificates and passwords for VCF Automation, VCF Identity Broker, VCF Operations for Logs, and VCF Operations for Networks until these specific components are also upgraded to version 9.1. This is because these components were previously managed by the now-decommissioned VCF Operations fleet management appliance.

The VSP component acts as the foundational Kubernetes hosting architecture required to run the new Fleet and SDDC lifecycle microservices.

References:

• Upgrade Sequence and Related Issues for VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation 9.1
• Upgrading to VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1