VCF consists of vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and the VMware Aria Suite, though it does not require that each of these components be installed independently. The installation of the base component of VCF, or management domain, is accomplished using the VMware Cloud Builder which includes all the necessary software.
There are three steps to installation.
- Prepare the environment. Preparation 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 installation is straightforward, choosing among the available methods, and then minor post installation modifications to IP addresses, hostname, and so on. ESXi is the only software that the VMware Cloud Builder does not install.
- Install VMware Cloud Foundation. This installation 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.