WilliamLam.com

The VCF Download Tool (VCFDT) is the recommended utility for downloading binaries for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployments and upgrades. However, because Express Patches (EPs) are versioned and released independently for each VCF component, determining the latest installation or upgrade binaries for a specific VCF release currently requires additional effort when using VCFDT.

The VCF Installer UI currently provides the best user experience by automatically determining the latest supported version of each component for a given VCF release (for example, 9.0.2 or 9.1.0) by parsing the productVersionCatalog.json manifest.

Using a similar approach, I created a small script called Get-VCFLatestComponents.ps1 with the assistance of AI that allows you to specify the target VCF release and whether you are performing an installation or upgrade. The script then generates the appropriate VCFDT commands to download the latest supported binaries.

The script requires the productVersionCatalog.json which can be downloaded using VCFDT (e.g. vcf-download-tool metadata download) or from the Broadcom Support Portal (BSP) and then specify the following:

• DepotStore - The full path to where you want the binaries to be download to
• CredentialType - Either ActivationCode or DownloadCode
• CredentialFile - The full path to either the activation or download code file
• BaseVersion - 9.0.2 or 9.1.0
• Type - Either INSTALL or UPGRADE

Here is an example of running the script to generate the download binary commands for the latest VCF 9.1.0 release with latest EPs:

./Get-VCFLatestComponents.ps1 -PVC /Users/lamw/productVersionCatalog.json -DepotStore /Volumes/Storage/Software/VCF-LATEST -CredentialType ActivationCode -CredentialFile /Users/lamw/vcf_activation_code.txt -BaseVersion 9.1.0  -Type INSTALL

You can now copy the generated VCFDT commands and run them sequentially or placed them inside of a PowerShell or Shell script and have it run in the background 😎

An enhancement has already been planned for VCFDT, where a future maintenance release will support downloading the latest install/upgrade binaries for a VCF release, including all applicable Express Patches, using a single command. Until then, I hope this script saves you a few minutes and removes some of the guesswork when downloading VCF binaries.

As I discussed in my previous blog post, Understanding VCF Express Patches (EPs), Express Patches are designed to deliver security fixes as soon as they become available. As a by-product of this faster release cadence, important product fixes can also be delivered much sooner, rather than waiting months for the next scheduled release.

For a quick refresher, Express Patches (EPs) are released, versioned, and applied on a per-component basis as needed and do not require a specific installation sequence. The latest version of each component is always cumulative and includes all previously released fixes.

Earlier this week, we released several VCF component Express Patches, ranging from 9.1.0.0200 through 9.1.0.0400. Internally, we refer to this coordinated set of component updates as EP2 or the July EP, even though each Express Patch is released, versioned, and applied independently.

• ESX 9.1.0.0200
• vCenter 9.1.0.0200
• vSAN 9.1.0.0200
• NSX 9.1.0.0200
• SDDC Manager 9.1.0.0400
• VCF Operations 9.1.0.0400
• VCF Automation 9.1.0.0200
• VCF Download Tool 9.1.0.400

EP2 demonstrates exactly why a faster software release cadence matters. It includes a number of important product fixes that address issues that have prevented some customers from successfully upgrading, along with a few UI enhancements that I think many customers will appreciate as they begin their VCF 9.1 journey.

While rolling out EP2 into my lab and reviewing the release notes, I wanted to share a few of the highlights that stood out to me.

Note: Since this is the first EP release that contains a VCF Management Services (VCFMS) runtime update, make sure the Depot Service is up before applying a patch, since it is dependent on pulling the update and it would make sense to patch that service first, then underlying VCFMS runtime, which hosts all services before applying the rest in any order you wish.

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