VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1 continues to support side-loading, or direct upload, of VCF binaries into the VCF Installer, similar to VCF 9.0. However, there is now an additional workflow required after the VCF Fleet has been deployed, where the VCF management component binaries must also be uploaded to the new Fleet Depot Service.
When using either an Online or Offline VCF Software Depot, the Fleet Depot Service automatically retrieves the required VCF binaries from the configured source. However, when using a "Disconnected" or local depot, users must now manually upload those binaries into the Fleet Depot Service to support Day-N operations such as deploying optional VCF components including Log Management, Realtime Metrics and VCF Operations for Networks, as well as provisioning new VCF Instances and Domains.
Having recently gone through this workflow myself (detailed instructions below), I think customers with air-gapped requirements will have a much better experience using a VCF Offline Depot. It works just as well within those network constraints and avoids the need to manually upload binaries to multiple locations, especially for customers managing a large number of deployments.
