Consolidating vSphere clusters in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Consolidate multiple vSphere workload clusters within a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) workload domain. This process requires using SDDC Manager to ensure inventory consistency and database integrity.

Environment

• VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x / 5.x
• SDDC Manager
• VMware vCenter Server
• vSAN (All versions)

Cause

SDDC Manager does not have a native "merge" or "consolidate" workflow for vSphere clusters.

Resolution

Note: This is for workload clusters only, do not attempt to decommission or delete the management cluster for VCF / SDDC

To consolidate clusters, perform the following operations:

1. Workload Migration: Use vMotion to migrate all virtual machines from the source cluster (the one to be decommissioned) to the target cluster or other available resources.
2. Delete Source Cluster: Remove the source vSphere cluster from the workload domain using the SDDC Manager UI.
   • Reference: Delete a vSphere Cluster from a Workload Domain
3. Commission Hosts: If the hosts from the deleted cluster are needed, commission them back into the SDDC Manager inventory.
4. Expand Target Cluster: Add the newly available hosts to the target vSphere cluster using the SDDC Manager UI.
   • Reference: Add a Host to a vSphere Cluster Using the SDDC Manager UI