VCP-VCF cheat sheet

VCF integrates vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and SDDC Manager into an SDDC platform; SDDC Manager provides inventory, automation, and lifecycle orchestration.

A management workload domain is created first and hosts shared management components such as SDDC Manager, vCenter Server, and NSX Manager.

Each VI workload domain hosts customer workloads and has its own vCenter Server and clusters, while using shared platform services such as NSX and vSAN.

SDDC Manager stores VCF inventory, credentials, certificates, and lifecycle metadata used for workload domain and host operations.

VCF uses network pools to allocate IP ranges and VLANs for management, vMotion, vSAN, and NSX VTEP traffic.

NSX provides logical switching, routing, firewalling, and load balancing; VCF deploys NSX Manager clusters for the management plane.

vSAN supplies hyperconverged storage from local ESXi disks; compatibility of controllers, drives, and firmware is a deployment prerequisite.

External DNS with forward and reverse records plus synchronized NTP sources are required dependencies for VCF components.

Initial VCF bring-up uses Cloud Builder or the VCF Installer to validate prerequisites and deploy the management domain from a deployment parameter workbook.

The deployment parameter workbook defines management domain hosts, network pools, credentials, and component sizing for automated bring-up.

VCF deployment requires DNS forward/reverse records, NTP reachability, VLANs, IP pools, MTU, and credentials for all management components.

The management workload domain is deployed before VI workload domains; later domains are created through SDDC Manager.

Host commissioning validates ESXi credentials, network connectivity, and compatibility before hosts enter the SDDC Manager free pool.

A network pool defines IP ranges and VLAN IDs for traffic types; physical switch MTU must support NSX overlay and vSAN requirements.

NSX deployment needs a VTEP IP pool, transport VLAN, and uplink profile so hosts can establish overlay tunnels.

Post-deployment validation checks SDDC Manager tasks, vCenter, NSX, vSAN health, and management component connectivity.

SDDC Manager provides workload domain creation, host management, password rotation, certificate management, and lifecycle operations for VCF.

SDDC Manager RBAC assigns roles to local or directory users and groups; identity source integration centralizes VCF access management.

Capacity and health monitoring covers compute, storage, and network resources; vSAN health checks and NSX alarms identify degraded services.

SDDC Manager backup captures VCF inventory and configuration, while vCenter and NSX require separate backups for complete recovery.

Password rotation changes credentials for integrated VCF components and can affect services or scheduled tasks that use those accounts.

Certificate replacement through SDDC Manager workflows reduces mismatched certificates and service outages across integrated components.

Workload domain expansion adds hosts to an existing cluster or creates a new cluster and requires available network pool addresses and compatible hosts.

Support bundles from SDDC Manager, vCenter, and NSX collect logs and diagnostic data used for troubleshooting VCF issues.

SDDC Manager Lifecycle Management runs prechecks, downloads bundles, and orchestrates upgrades for VCF components and workload domains.

VCF upgrade planning uses the compatibility matrix to confirm supported versions of SDDC Manager, vCenter, ESXi, vSAN, NSX, and other components.

Upgrade prechecks detect expired certificates, password mismatches, DNS/NTP failures, unsupported hardware, and insufficient capacity before an upgrade.

The online depot is the VMware repository for upgrade bundles; an offline depot stores bundles locally for disconnected environments.

VCF lifecycle workflows coordinate component upgrades and may require rolling reboots, host transport node preparation, and health checks.

VCF upgrades may not support automatic rollback; backups, snapshots, and a documented recovery plan are prerequisites for maintenance.

SDDC Manager logs record lifecycle tasks, API calls, and errors and are a primary source for diagnosing failed deployments and upgrades.

Troubleshooting VCF starts with component health, DNS/NTP, certificates, credentials, and network connectivity because these are common failure causes.