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VMware Cloud Foundation 5.0 running on Intel NUC

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Interested in trying out the latest release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.0? Don't have some beefy hardware to meet all the requirements, not to worry! Did you know you can actually deploy a VCF Management Domain using just a single Intel NUC or simliar small form factor system? This is exactly how I kicked the tires with the latest VCF 5.0 release 😎


Disclaimer: This is not officially supported by VMware, please use at your own risk.

Requirements:

  • VMware Cloud Builder 5.0 OVA (Build 21822418)
  • VCF 5.0 Licenses
  • Intel NUC configured with
    • 64GB of memory or more
    • Dual onboard networking ("Tall" NUC like Intel NUC 11 Pro, which is what I used) OR add additional NICs with these Thunderbolt 3 Networking options (no USB NIC)
    • 2 x SSD that are empty for use for vSAN bootstrap (500GB+ for capacity)
  • ESXi 8.0 Update 1a installed on the Intel NUC using USB device
  • Ability to deploy and run the VMware Cloud Builder (CB) Appliance in a separate environment (ESXi/Fusion/Workstation)

Note: While my experiment used an Intel NUC, any system that meets the basic requirements above should also work.

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Clearing TPM alarms after replacing TPM chip or resetting TPM keys for ESXi

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If you have a supported Trusted Platform Module (TPM) device that has been installed in your ESXi host after the initial installation and you either replace the TPM chip and/or you reset the TPM keys within the system BIOS, you may find several TPM alarms that is raised within your vCenter Server including:

  • Host TPM attestation alarm
  • TPM Encryption Recovery Key Backup Alarm
  • The new host TPM endorsement key doesn't match the one stored in the DB


I recently had to resolve this in my lab after clearing the TPM keys within the system BIOS, this was for some testing I was doing, but I could not figure out how to get vCenter Server to clear the previous endorsement keys associated with the ESXi host.

After a bit of searching, I came across this VMware KB 81446 which outlines a solution to one the scenarios I mentioned above where you would see these TPM alarms, which is replacing the TPM chip, but I came to find out that the workflow is also applicable if you had cleared the TPM keys and new ones were generated prior to re-installing ESXi. The KB was missing a some details, which I have already shared in the feedback and I think there is a more streamline method which I have shared below.

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Workaround for VMware Cloud Builder 10GbE pre-check in VMware Cloud Foundation 5.0

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VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.0 is now generally available for customers to upgrade and I had a chance to play with it in my homelab before it was released.

One change that I had noticed in the new version of the VMware Cloud Builder for VCF 5.0 compared to VCF 4.5 is the introduction of a new 10GbE pre-check to ensure that your physical ESXi hosts met the minimum networking requirement. For a production deployment, this pre-check makes a ton of sense but for a homelab/development environment where you may not have 10GbE connectivity, this is certainly not ideal, especially as this was possible with VCF 4.5.

With VCF 5.0, this new pre-check is considered an error and will prevent you from continuing the VCF deployment as you can see from the error message below.


Fortunately, I was able to find an easy workaround to the issue that would still allow users to deploy the latest VCF 5.0 without 10GbE networking! 😀

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