Transitioning from vSphere 9.1 (VxRail) to VCF 9.1 (VxRail)

Products

• VCF Operations
• VMware SDDC Manager / VCF Installer

Issue/Introduction

VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 includes a validation guardrail that restricts the convergence of VxRail clusters to VCF 9.1. This guardrail prevents the cloud administrator from completing the brownfield import/convergence process for vSphere 9.1 (VxRail) into VCF 9.1. This article provides the steps to bypass this guardrail.

• A Dell RPQ approval is required to convert from vSphere (VxRail) to VCF (VxRail) 9.1.
• Out of Scope: The steps outlined in this document do not apply to VxRail stretched clusters, VxRail dynamic nodes, 2-node clusters, or satellite nodes.

Environment

• Product: VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1
• Prerequisites:
  • vCenter 9.1 or higher
  • ESXi 9.1 or higher
  • VxRail Manager 9.1 or higher

Resolution

To bypass the guardrail, execute the provided script on the SDDC Manager.

Prerequisites:

• Ensure the cluster configuration is supported as defined in the Environment section.
• Download the required script file: set-min-vc-version-for-vxrail-next-91.sh

Steps:

1. Copy the set-min-vc-version-for-vxrail-next-91.sh script to the /home/vcf/ directory on the SDDC Manager.
2. SSH into the SDDC Manager as the vcf user.
3. Elevate to the root user:

   su

4. Navigate to the /home/vcf/ directory and update the permissions on the script:

   chmod +x set-min-vc-version-for-vxrail-next-91.sh

5. Execute the script:

   ./set-min-vc-version-for-vxrail-next-91.sh

Example Output:

root@<sddc-manager-host> [ /home/vcf ]# ./setMinVcVersionForVxRailNext91.shFeature feature.vcf.vgl-36171.521.bom.support: trueFeature feature.vcf.vgl-44098.vxrail.brownfield.import: trueWill edit: /opt/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/scripts/assessment/guardrails/operations/import/import-variables-521-bom.jsonBefore:  "minVcVersionForVxRailNext": "9.2.0.0",  "minEsxiVersionForConvert": "8.0.1",Backup created: /opt/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/scripts/assessment/guardrails/operations/import/import-variables-521-bom.json.bak.<timestamp>After:  "minVcVersionForVxRailNext": "9.1.0.0",  "minEsxiVersionForConvert": "8.0.1",Success: minVcVersionForVxRailNext is now 9.1.0.0No service restart is required; re-run brownfield import/convert precheck.

6. Re-run the brownfield import/convert precheck after executing the script.

Rollback Procedure: If necessary, you can revert the changes made by the script using the following command:

./setMinVcVersionForVxRailNext91.sh --rollback /opt/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/scripts/assessment/guardrails/operations/import/import-variables-521-bom.json.bak.<timestamp>

Additional Information

• No service restart is required post-execution.
• Verify prerequisites before initiating the script to ensure environment stability.