vCF (VMware Cloud Foundation)

VMware Cloud Foundation guides for architecture, deployment, upgrades, operations, NSX, vSAN, automation, security, migration, and recovery.

Diagram illustrating The management plane is the real story for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 Release Notes: What Changed for Operators.

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 Release Notes: What Changed for Operators

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VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 became available on May 12, 2026, as build 25377994. The release covers infrastructure efficiency, Kubernetes operations, private AI, cyber resilience, platform scale, and lifecycle improvements. The headline features are significant, but they are not the whole story. [A] The more consequential change is architectural. VCF 9.1 consolidates more fleet lifecycle, software-depot, … Explore: VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 Release Notes: What Changed…

Introductory visual for NSX VPC or Another Workload Domain? Choosing the Right Isolation Boundary in VCF 9.1.

NSX VPC or Another Workload Domain? Choosing the Right Isolation Boundary in VCF 9.1

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TL;DR Do not create a VMware Cloud Foundation workload domain every time a tenant, business unit, application, or security team asks for separation. In VCF 9.1, the correct design is usually to choose the smallest boundary that satisfies the strongest verified requirement. A subnet or segment separates network attachment. An NSX VPC separates application networking, … Explore: NSX VPC or Another Workload Domain? Choosing the…

Introductory visual for Green Hardware Does Not Mean a Ready AI Platform: Commissioning VCF Private AI Services.

Green Hardware Does Not Mean a Ready AI Platform: Commissioning VCF Private AI Services

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TL;DR A rack of healthy GPU servers is not a production-ready VCF Private AI platform. Production acceptance should prove the complete service chain: supported hardware, aligned ESXi and NVIDIA software, a healthy VCF 9.1 workload domain, stable NSX and shared infrastructure services, a ready Supervisor and VKS layer, functioning tenant controls, trusted Harbor and model … Explore: Green Hardware Does Not Mean a Ready AI…

Introductory visual for How to Deploy VMware Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA on VCF 9.1.

How to Deploy VMware Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA on VCF 9.1

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TL;DR Deploying VMware Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA on VCF 9.1 is not a single-product installation. It is an integrated platform deployment spanning the VCF workload domain, GPU-enabled ESXi hosts, NVIDIA drivers and licensing, vSphere Supervisor, namespaces, Private AI Services, Harbor, identity, networking, certificates, and the AI consumption model. The most important design decision happens … Explore: How to Deploy VMware Private AI Foundation with…

Diagram illustrating The platform shift at a glance for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 vs 9.1: What Changed and Why It Matters.

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 vs 9.1: What Changed and Why It Matters

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VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 was the platform reset. It moved VCF beyond the idea of an integrated VMware software stack and toward a more complete private cloud operating model. Unified operations, governed self-service, VPC networking, Kubernetes, cost visibility, infrastructure automation, and API-driven consumption became central parts of the platform rather than adjacent capabilities. VMware Cloud … Explore: VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 vs 9.1: What Changed…

Diagram illustrating The platform boundary at a glance for VVF 9.0 vs VCF 9.1: The Real Difference Between a Workload Platform and a Private Cloud.

VVF 9.0 vs VCF 9.1: Key Differences and Upgrade Planning

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VVF vs VCF: The short answer VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) provides a vSphere-based platform for virtual machines and Kubernetes workloads, with storage and operations capabilities. VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) expands that foundation into an integrated private cloud with networking, automation and self-service. The right choice depends on how your team needs to operate and deliver … Explore: VVF 9.0 vs VCF 9.1: Key Differences and…

Diagram showing how I would frame the change before building the runbook.

VCF Upgrade Field Guide: Planning the Maintenance Move

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Moving from VCF 9.0 to VCF 9.0.1 looks small on paper. It is not a platform redesign, not a brownfield conversion, and not the same class of change as a major-version upgrade. That is exactly why it deserves discipline. Maintenance upgrades are where teams are tempted to move too quickly. The release appears incremental, the … Explore: VCF Upgrade Field Guide: Planning the Maintenance Move

Diagram illustrating Private AI Is Not Model Hosting.

Private AI Is Not Model Hosting

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A VCF 9.1 reference architecture for sovereignty, identity, GPU capacity, and operations. TL;DR Private AI needs an operating model for sovereignty, identity, GPU capacity, data access, and recovery. Use this reference architecture to identify the controls and owners around the model endpoint before treating a local deployment as a production platform. Get new guides by … Explore: Private AI Is Not Model Hosting

Introductory visual for VCF 5.2.x to 9.1 Upgrade Runbook: Exact Sequence, Dependencies, Downtime, and Validation.

VCF 5.2.x to 9.1 Upgrade Runbook: Exact Sequence, Dependencies, Downtime, and Validation

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TL;DR A VCF 5.2.x to 9.1 upgrade is not a single SDDC Manager update followed by routine infrastructure patching. It is a dependency-controlled platform transition that begins with the Operations layer, introduces mandatory VCF Management Services, and then moves through NSX, vCenter, ESX, and NSX Edge finalization. The first gate is source-release eligibility. Current Broadcom … Explore: VCF 5.2.x to 9.1 Upgrade Runbook: Exact Sequence,…

Introductory visual for Automating VCF 9.1 VPC Networking with PowerCLI.

Automating VCF 9.1 VPC Networking with PowerCLI: IP Blocks, Subnets, NAT, and External IPs

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TL;DR VCF 9.1 expands the VMware.VimAutomation.Vpc module so PowerCLI can build much more of the VPC networking foundation, including IP blocks, external connections, transit gateways, connectivity profiles, VPCs, subnets, and external-IP assignments. The practical automation pattern is to build provider-owned connectivity first, create application-owned VPC objects second, and publish selected private workloads by assigning an … Explore: Automating VCF 9.1 VPC Networking with PowerCLI: IP…

Introductory visual for VCF 9.1 VPC Networking: Distributed vs. Centralized Transit Gateway Designs.

VCF 9.1 VPC Networking: Distributed vs. Centralized Transit Gateway Designs

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TL;DR VCF 9.1 supports two distinct approaches for connecting Virtual Private Clouds to the physical data center network. A Distributed Transit Gateway removes NSX Edge nodes, the Tier-0 gateway, and BGP from the north-south forwarding path. Traffic can leave directly from the ESXi host through a VLAN shared by every participating host. The design reduces … Explore: VCF 9.1 VPC Networking: Distributed vs. Centralized Transit…

Introductory visual for Deploy Linux VMs on vSphere with cloud-init and GuestInfo: A Complete PowerCLI Guide.

Deploy Linux VMs on vSphere with cloud-init and GuestInfo: A Complete PowerCLI Guide

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TL;DR PowerCLI can clone a Linux template, write cloud-init metadata and user data into vSphere GuestInfo settings, and power on a fully initialized virtual machine without attaching a seed ISO or maintaining a traditional guest customization specification. The reliable deployment sequence is: The reusable PowerCLI script in this guide implements that workflow for Ubuntu, Rocky … Explore: Deploy Linux VMs on vSphere with cloud-init and…

Introductory visual for VCF 9.1 API with Postman.

VCF 9.1 API with Postman: Generate a Collection from OpenAPI and Automate Your First Workflow

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TL;DR VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 provides an OpenAPI definition for SDDC Manager that can be imported into Postman to generate a structured collection of API requests. The generated collection is not immediately ready for use. The specification defines a localhost server value, so the requests must be updated to use a variable that points to … Explore: VCF 9.1 API with Postman: Generate a Collection…

Introductory visual for HCX 9.1 Migration Runbook.

HCX 9.1 Migration Runbook: Network Profiles, Compute Profiles, Service Mesh, and First VM Move

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TL;DR An HCX 9.1 migration should not begin with the Migrate Virtual Machines button. It should begin with a dependency-ordered runbook that proves routing, firewall policy, IP pools, site pairing, Network Profiles, Compute Profiles, Service Mesh health, and Network Extension behavior before a production workload is touched. The practical sequence is: Introduction HCX failures often … Explore: HCX 9.1 Migration Runbook: Network Profiles, Compute Profiles,…

Introductory visual for How to Install and Update VCF PowerCLI 9.1 on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

How to Install and Update VCF PowerCLI 9.1 on Windows, macOS, and Linux

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TL;DR PowerCLI is now distributed through the VCF.PowerCLI package. The older VMware.PowerCLI package is deprecated, although many familiar cmdlets and underlying VMware.* modules remain in use. For a new installation, use: For an existing VMware.PowerCLI installation, audit scripts for explicit Import-Module VMware.PowerCLI statements, prefer a clean migration where practical, and use -AllowClobber and -SkipPublisherCheck only … Explore: How to Install and Update VCF PowerCLI 9.1…

Architecture diagram illustrating Architecture at a Glance: The GPU Cluster Is Not the Service for VCF 9.1 for AI Workloads.

VCF 9.1 for AI Workloads: The Decisions Infrastructure Teams Need to Make Before the First GPU Cluster

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AI demand rarely arrives as a clean infrastructure request. It usually starts as a conversation. A data science team has a model they want to test. A business unit wants an internal assistant. A security team wants retrieval-augmented generation close to sensitive data. A platform team is asked whether the existing private cloud can “just … Explore: VCF 9.1 for AI Workloads: The Decisions Infrastructure…

Conceptual diagram illustrating VCF Operations In The Management Model for Introduction to VMware Cloud Foundation Operations: Why VCF Operations Is Critical Today.

Introduction to VMware Cloud Foundation Operations: Why VCF Operations Is Critical Today

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TL;DR VCF Operations is no longer just an observability tool sitting beside the VMware Cloud Foundation stack. In the VCF 9.x operating model, it is becoming a central part of how teams manage the fleet, monitor health, support lifecycle workflows, handle certificates and passwords, improve diagnostics, understand cost, and enforce operational governance. That shift matters. … Explore: Introduction to VMware Cloud Foundation Operations: Why VCF…

Introductory visual for VCF Express Patches: A Practical Runbook for Planning, Applying, and Validating Updates.

VCF Express Patches: A Practical Runbook for Planning, Applying, and Validating Updates

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TL;DR VCF Express Patches should be handled through a repeatable runbook, not an improvised maintenance window. The practical workflow is to confirm the current VCF and component baseline, synchronize depot metadata, review release-note applicability, validate backups and platform health, patch lifecycle and management services where needed, apply component updates through VCF Operations, and capture enough … Explore: VCF Express Patches: A Practical Runbook for Planning,…

Introductory visual for VCF Express Patches: The Operating Model Shift Behind Faster Security Response.

VCF Express Patches: The Operating Model Shift Behind Faster Security Response

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TL;DR VCF Express Patches are not just smaller updates with a faster name. They represent a more active Day-2 lifecycle model for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 environments. Instead of waiting for every fix to arrive in a larger scheduled maintenance release, teams now need a repeatable process for tracking component applicability, synchronizing depot metadata, validating … Explore: VCF Express Patches: The Operating Model Shift Behind…

Conceptual diagram illustrating The Ownership Model at a Glance for The Five Personas of Private AI.

The Five Personas of Private AI: Platform Owner, Model Owner, Data Owner, Security Owner, and Business Owner

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Private AI will not fail in most enterprises because the model cannot run. It will fail because nobody can answer a simple question clearly: Who owns this thing? That question sounds basic until the first production AI use case crosses infrastructure, GPUs, model runtime, vector data, business logic, identity, audit logging, security policy, and operational … Explore: The Five Personas of Private AI: Platform Owner,…