VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1 on Dell VxRail 8.0.200 is now GA (Generally Available) as of December 4th 2023. This is the first VCF release to support vSAN ESA. VxRail 8.0.200 is the VxRail feature release that supports vSphere 8.0 U2.

Release Notes: the bill-of-materials below can be officially referenced in the following Release Notes links :

DELL: VCF 5.1 on VxRail Release Notes

VMware: VCF 5.1 on VxRail Release Notes

The following is a list of all the components and their versions as per VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1:

VCF 5.1 release includes the following major updates:

VMware Cloud Builder5.1 (22688368)
SDDC Manager5.1 (22688368)
vCenter Server Appliance8.0 Update 2a (22617221)
VMware NSX-T Data Center4.1.2.1 (22667789)
VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager8.14 (22630473)

DELL VxRail 8.0.200 release components aligned with VCF 5.1:

VxRail8.0.200 build 28314729
VxRail Manager8.0.200 build 28314728
VMware ESXi 8.0 U2 build 22380479
VMware vSAN8.0 U2 build 22380479

Some notable highlights of this VCF 5.1 On VxRail 8.0.200 release include:

  • VMware vSAN ESA support for both Management & VI Workload Domain clusters (vSAN ESA requires vLCM). vSAN ESA is designed as a single-tier architecture built on NVMe platforms, VCF On VxRail offer support for vSAN ESA with VxRail E660N (10-drive all NVMe) and P670N (24-drive all NVMe) platforms. VCF stretched clusters are not supported with vLCM enabled thus making ESA stretched clusters unavailable.
  • Support 2-node clusters in VCF workload domains when using VMFS on FC Dell external storage as principal storage. In previous releases, a WLD domain required a minimum of 3 nodes. A 2-node FC cluster can only be added to a WLD that has vLCM enabled. Clusters with 3 or more nodes do not require vLCM.
  • VxRail dynamic nodes in compute-only clusters that use an external vSAN HCI mesh datastore as primary storage (VMware vSAN OSA and VMware vSAN ESA remote datastores). Created running the WFO API script method on SDDC Manager.
  • Dedicated service account for operations between SDDC Manager and vCenter, removing the dependency on the administrator account and enabling the use of service account for better security.
  • VCF 5.1 on VxRail 8.0.200 enables traffic isolation between management VMs and ESXi Management VMkernel Interfaces. This feature enables end users to configure different subnets/VLANs between ESXi mgmt DvGP and mgmt VM DvPG.
  • Multi-CVDS support for NSX vDS with Distributed Firewall (DFW). Separating the DVPG for Management VMs and ESXi Management VMK provides clear isolation of traffic and concerns. This enables customers to configure DVPG traffic type-specific security features.
  • Day-1 VxRail vLCM mode compatibility for both Management & VI workload domain clusters. Leverages VxRail public API enablement in VxRail 8.0.200.
  • Ability to download asynchronous update precheck files onto SDDC Manager. Precheck files are downloaded from VMware CustomerConnect and deployed using the SDDC Manager CLI. This helps to minimize potential upgrade issues.
  • Additional networking flexibility for multi PNIC & multi-vDS which can be realized through the UI and not only through the API. Providing the ability to create up to 3 vSphere distributed switches during Day 1 deployment for VI Workload Domain using the WFO UI deployment method.
  • SDDC support for remote clusters up to 16 nodes, extending the maximum from 4 hosts on a remote cluster up to 16 nodes. Requires 10 Mbps of bandwidth available and a latency less than 150ms. (Note: This feature will come after VCF 5.1 on VxRail 8.0.200 GA).
  • In addtion to DHCP SDDC Manager now introduces support for a static option for Host TEP IP assignments in the case of L3 aware stretch clusters.
  • OKTA SSO identity federation support.
  • Rebranding of vRealize Suite of products to VMware Aria Suite.
  • VMware Validated Solutions are updated to support VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1. Visit VMware Validated Solutions for the updated guides.
  • Starting with VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1, Configuration Drift Bundles are no longer needed as part of the upgrade process and are now deprecated.

Please refer to the following blog by Jason @vwhippersnapper for a detailed overview of all the new features included with this release:

Learn About the Latest VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1 on Dell VxRail 8.0.200 Release

Cloudbuilder Download Link:

Download VMware Cloud Foundation 5.1 Cloud Builder

Some Additional Useful Links:

Posted on 6 By David Ring VCF Posted in VCF, VxRail Tagged #, ,

David Ring

6 Comments »

  1. Pingback: VCF on VxRail: Create vLCM WLD Using WFO UI – vbarneeze.cloud
  2. Pingback: VCF on VxRail: Create vLCM WLD Using WFO Script – vbarneeze.cloud
  3. Pingback: VCF on VxRail: Create Compute Only Cluster Using WFO Script – vbarneeze.cloud
  4. Pingback: VCF 5.1 On VxRAIL 8.0.200 – Walkthrough (Part1: Bring-Up) – DavidRing.ie

  5. I would change your statement

    “VCF stretched clusters are not supported with vLCM enabled thus making ESA stretched clusters unavailable.”

    To —-

    “VxRail stretched clusters that are deployed using vSAN OSA can now be configured with vLCM mode enabled but not with ESA”.

    One question – do we enable vLCM before creating domain? i meant we are deploying using json files/API and i could not found any API call for it.

    in VMware doc says , “clusterImageId”: “string”, https://developer.vmware.com/apis/vcf-for-vxrail/latest/data-structures/ClusterSpec/

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