Managing

Now it is time to provision a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) for Classic instance. Use the click-through demonstration below to practice provisioning a VCF for Classic instance.

About the IBM Technology Zone (ITZ) environment

The steps that follow are specific to the management capabilities of VCF for Classic as of August 2024.

The steps CANNOT be used in the ITZ environment that was reserved for this course. To save costs, the VCF for Classic instance was removed after the creation of the associated click-through demonstrations.

Tip

When using the click-through demonstration, if you are not sure where to click or what to do next, simply click anywhere on the screen and the place to click next will be highlighted. Text entry fields are pre-populated in the click-through demonstration.

  1. Open the link below and then click the play button to begin the demonstration.

    Click-through demonstration: Manage an instance of VCF for Classic

  2. Click the VMware icon in the left menu.

  3. Click VCF for Classic under Resources in left menu.

  4. Click vcs-se-l3 in the table of VCF for Classic instances.

    The Summary page provides information about the VCF for Classic instance including software versions deployed, instance ID, location, and root and single sign-on domain.

  5. Click the Actions drop-down list.

    There are 2 actions that be performed from the Actions menu. The Refresh option updates the information about the instance.

    The Delete instance option removes the VCF for Classic instance. When deleting the instance, all resources that are associated with the instance are permanently deleted, including vCenter Server, hosts, VMs, VLANs, subnets, services, and licenses. This action cannot be undone. To delete some of the resources in the instance and keep others, a support ticket must be opened. For instances that are part of a multi-site configuration, there are additional steps that must be followed. Refer to the documentation here.

  6. Click Refresh.

  7. Click the Access information tab.

    The Access information page provides the details required to access the core VMware components of the VCF for Classic deployment including IP addresses, fully qualified domain names (FQDN), administrative identities, and passwords.

  8. Click the information () icon next to Access information.

    It is the client's responsibility to manage the VCF for Classic deployment. All of the administrative passwords for the VMware components should be changed and recorded in the clients own password management system. Once changed, the passwords shown on the Access information page will no longer be valid.

  9. Click the information dialog to dismiss it.

  10. Click the Infrastructure tab.

    The Infrastructure page lists all clusters associated with the VCF for Classic instance. Recall, this instance was provisioned with a single consolidated cluster. Had a workload or gateway cluster been created, those items would be listed. Summary information about the cluster is provided. Individual clusters can be deleted from the page.

    The Infrastructure page is where new clusters can be added to the instance.

  11. Click Create.

    The Create cluster form should look familiar. It is very similar to part of the form used when the VCF for Classic instance was created.

    This form can be used to create both workload and gateway clusters. First, explore adding a workload cluster.

  12. Select Select a different location.

    If a different location is selected, the cluster will be provisioned in a data center that is different from the one of the VCF for Classic instance. Network latency might occur between the instance and the hosts, and between customer workloads that communicate from different locations.

  13. Select pod 04 for the data center location.

    Notice the new workload cluster can use a different server configuration than the initial cluster created. Clients may want smaller or larger workload clusters that are right-sized for particular workloads.

  14. Click the information () icon next to Number of bare metal servers.

    A minimum of two (2) bare metal servers are required to create a cluster.

  15. Click the information dialog to dismiss it.

    New workload clusters can choose NFS or vSAN for the cluster storage.

  16. Click the Hostname prefix entry field.

    In the Network interface section the same network parameters can be specified as when first creating the VCF for Classic instance. In addition, either the existing virtual local area networks (vLANS) of the instance can be used or new ones can be created.

  17. Read and then click the information dialog regarding vLANs.

    It is critical that the VMware management components like VMware vCenter Server are able to communicate with the new cluster. Learn more about the topic here.

  18. Click the Private VLAN drop-down list.

  19. Select Allocate a new one.
  20. Click the Secondary private VLAN drop-down list.
  21. Select Allocate a new one.
  22. Select the I understand that the following account will be charged agreement.

  23. Select the I have read and agreed to the following third-party service agreement.

    At this point, the user would click create and the new cluster would start to provision.

    Now, explore the steps to create a new Gateway cluster.

  24. Select Gateway cluster.

    Notice the Data center location is set and cannot be changed.

  25. Select Dual Intel Xeon Silver 4210 for the CPU model.

    Notice the additional parameters that can be specified for the gateway cluster.

  26. Select the I understand that the following account will be charged agreement.

  27. Select the I have read and agreed to the following third-party service agreement.

    At this point, the user would click create and the new cluster would start to provision.

  28. Click the vce-se-l3 (primary) in the breadcrumb trail.

  29. Click vcs-mc-consolidated in the cluster table.

    The details page for a cluster provides information about all the components of the cluster including the servers running ESXi, storage, and network. In addition, additional servers and storage can be added to the cluster from this page.

  30. Click Add in the ESXi servers table.

    When adding servers to the cluster, the new servers can either use the same CPU model and configuration or a new configuration. While it is a best practice to have all servers in a cluster be heterogeneous, that is not always possible as CPU models age out and are replaced by newer models. Another scenario is if there is a desire to upgrade all the servers in a cluster to a different CPU model and configuration.

  31. Click the information () icon next to Maintenance mode.

    In most circumstances administrators do not want workloads to be assigned to new hosts until all customizations and updates to the host are complete. Bring the hosts up in Maintenance mode prevents that from occurring.

  32. Click the information dialog to dismiss it.

  33. Click Next.

  34. Review the screen and click Next.

    The new host or hosts can either use the same primary subnets or a different one. The subnets must already exist and be reachable by the VMware management components.

    The next step would be to accept the agreements and then click Add. For this demonstration, a new server will not be added.

  35. Click the x to close the Add ESXi server dialog.

  36. Select the host-mf000.se.l3.com server in the table.

    Notice, when one or more hosts are selected, the Delete option becomes available.

  37. Click Cancel in the ESXi servers table.

  38. Click Add in the Storage table.

    Additional NFS storage shares can be added to the cluster. The size and performance tier can be specified for each share.

    Note, if the cluster used vSAN storage, the ability to add new servers and storage for the vSAN cluster would be presented.

  39. Click the x to close the Add NFS storage dialog.

  40. Select management-share in the Storage table.

    Notice, when one or more shares are selected, the Delete option becomes available.

  41. Click Cancel in the Storage table.

    The Network interface section provides detailed information on the vLANs used in the instance. Notice the download () icon above the vLAN tables. Use this button to download a comma separated value (CSV) file of all the associated subnets and IP addresses associated with the cluster.

  42. Expand the 10.213.88.128/25 subnet in the Private VLAN table.

    All of the IP addresses in the subnet are listed along with a status and the use of the address. In this case, these are the IPs associated with the NSX portable subnet.

  43. Collapse the 10.213.88.128/25 subnet.

  44. Click the Secondary Private VLAN tab.

    This table shows the subnets used for private storage and vMotion of VMs in the cluster.

  45. Click the Public VLAN tab.

    If enabled with public network access, this section shows the primary subnet for hosts and virtual server instances, public subnet for customer workload edge, and the public subnet for the management edge.

  46. Click View resource.

    This link opens a new browser tab or window to the IBM Cloud portal page associated with the networking elements in the table.

  47. Click the x to the new browser tab.

  48. Click the All clusters link to return to the main Infrastructure page.

  49. Click the Services tab.

    The Services page lists all services that have been deployed into the VCF for Classic instance during the provisioning process. The ability to add new services is also available.

  50. Click Add.

    Any available service that was not added during the initial provisioning can be added from this screen. Note, some services may require additional capacity to be added beforehand. For more information on the additional services, refer to the product documentation here.

  51. Click the vcs-se-l3 (primary) link in the breadcrumb trail.

  52. Click Veeam.

    Information needed to access the Veeam console is shown here. The Open Veeam Console button is part of this click-through demonstration and is not part of the IBM Cloud portal.

  53. Click Open Veeam Console.

    The *Veeam suite of tools are deployed on a Microsoft Windows server. This can be a Windows Server VM deployed in the VCF for Classic infrastructure, a virtual server instance (VSI) on IBM Cloud, or a bare metal server on IBM Cloud. The specific steps to establish a virtual private network (VPN), configure the local hosts file, and opening a remote desktop client are not detailed in this click-through demonstration. To learn about that process, review the documentation here.

  54. Click the first Veeam Backup icon on the desktop.

    The credentials to authenticate to the Veeam system was displayed on the service detail page in the IBM Cloud portal. Note, users should change the initial passwords of all services.

  55. Deselect Use windows session authentication.

  56. Click the Password entry field.

  57. Click Connect.

    This demonstration is not meant as a deep dive on using Veeam and its associated tools. Refer to the Veeam documentation and Veeam training available on Veeam's web site here. However, in the next steps, create a simple Veeam backup job.

  58. Click Inventory in left menu.

  59. Click vcssel3-vc-se.l3.com in the Virtual Infrastructure directory tree.

  60. Click VMware-Aria-Operations-for-Logs-Master.

    The steps to select multiple hosts in the lists is simplified for this click-through demonstration.

  61. Click the selected hosts.

    The steps open the context menu is simplified as a single click. In the actual console, users would right-click on the lists of selected hosts.

  62. Click Add to backup job.

  63. Click New job.

    The New Backup Job wizard walks through the process of defining a backup job.

  64. Explore the settings on the page and click Next.

  65. Explore the Virtual Machines page and click Next.
  66. Explore the Storage page and click Next.
  67. Explore the Guest processing page and click Next.
  68. Select Run the job automatically.
  69. Explore the Schedule page and click Apply.
  70. Select Run the job when I click Finish.
  71. Click Finish.

  72. Click Home.

    Notice the job has been started and is scheduled for future runs as specified when the job was defined.

  73. Click Return to IBM Cloud Portal.

  74. Click x to close the Veeam service page.

  75. Click VMware Aria Operations and VMware Aria Operations for Logs Enterprise Edition.

    Details to access the VMware Aria Operations Manager console and the VMware Aria Operations for Logs console are displayed. Initial passwords should be changed. Accessing the Aria consoles requires a VPN.

    Note, the buttons to open the consoles are part of the IBM Cloud portal.

  76. Click VMware Aria Operations Manager console.

    Note, the initial log in screen was not captured. It is identical to the one below shown for the VMware Aria Operations for Logs console.

  77. Click Next on the Welcome page.

  78. Click I accept the terms of this agreement.
  79. Click Next.
  80. Click Next on the license key page.
  81. Click Next on the Customer Experience Improvement Program page.

  82. Click Finish.

    VMware Aria Operations enables proactive IT operations, management, logging, and diagnostics management for VCF. To learn more about VMware Aria Operations, refer to this VMware site.

  83. Click Troubleshoot.

  84. Click Alerts.

    The console provides insights into events occurring in the VMware environment.

  85. Click NSX Management service has failed.

    View the alert messages. Note, these alerts were generated during the automated provisioning process for the VCF for Classic instance. The issues related to the alerts were rectified as the instance became fully deployed and active.

  86. Click Log Analysis in left menu.

    The console provides insights into the thousands of log messages that occur during the normal operation of a VMware deployment.

  87. Click Visualize in left menu.

  88. Click Dashboards in left menu.

  89. Click Assess Cost.

    Since this is a new deployment, there is limited data; however, VMware Aria Operations Manager can help organizations reduce costs and improve efficiency through real-time, predictive capacity and cost analytics.

  90. Click Home.

  91. Click Inventory.

    The Inventory dashboard shows the number of resources in the environment and help quantify the number of resources based on various perspectives and relationships within the environment.

  92. Click vSphere Inventory Summary.

  93. Click Environment in left menu.

    More detailed information on the inventory is also available.

  94. Click x to close the VMware Aria Operations Manager console tab.

  95. Click VMware Aria Operations for Logs console.

  96. Click Login.

    Vmware Aria Operations for Logs provides organizations with centralized log management, deep operational visibility, and intelligent analytics for troubleshooting and auditing across a VCF for Classic instance.

    Review the data shown shown on the Overview page.

  97. Click Problems in left menu and review the data presented.

  98. Click VMware - vROPs 6.7+ in left menu and review the data presented.
  99. Click Cluster - Threads Overview in left menu and review the data presented.
  100. Click VMware - vSphere in left menu and review the data presented.
  101. Click x to close the browser tab for the VMware Aria Operations for Logs console.
  102. Click x to close the service details page.

  103. Click the Deployment history tab.

    The Deployment history shows the output of the various deployment steps performed for the instance. This view was taken just after the VCF for Classic completed the initial provisioning process.

  104. Click vCenter console

    Like the other consoles for the add on services, accessing the vCenter Console is done through a VPN. The steps and links to establish the VPN are provided on the dialog and were performed outside of this click-through demonstration.

  105. Click Go to vCenter console.

    Review the summary information provided for the deployed environment including capacity and usage data.

  106. Click the Hosts tab.

    All the ESXi hosts provisioned as part of the consolidate cluster are shown along with their respective, consumption metric and high availability (HA) state.

  107. Click the Datastores tab.

    Both the user specified datastores (the two [2] NFS 3 stores of 1,000 gigabytes [GB]) and the datastores required as part of the base infrastructure are displayed.

  108. Click the Networks tab.

    The Networks pages lists all the port groups configured in the instance.

  109. Click the x to close the vCenter Server console tab.

  110. Click the x to close the dialog.

That concludes the click-through demonstration for managing a VCF for Classic instance.