Although VCF consists of vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and the vRealize Suite, it does not require that the user install each of these components independently. The installation of the base component of VCF, or management domain, is accomplished using the VMware Cloud Builder which contains all the necessary software built in.
There are three steps to installation.
- Prepare the environment. This is achieved through the Planning and Preparation Workbook that VMware provides. There are three tabs—Credentials, Hosts and Networks, and Deploy Parameters—where the user inputs IPs, NSX and SDDC Manager information, and passwords among other entries.
- Image all servers with the ESXi version that is listed in the Bill of Materials. This is a straightforward install, choosing among the available methods, and then minor modifications post-install of setting IPs, hostname, and so on. This is the only software that the VMware Cloud Builder does not install.
- Install VMware Cloud Foundation. This requires first deploying the VMware Cloud Builder appliance which is a wizard-driven application that accepts the prepared workbook as input to create the management domain.
The following section walks through the installation of the management domain.