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VCF 9.1 - Updated Method to Reset Identity Broker from previously managed VCF Operations for VCF Single Sign-On (SSO)

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Over the weekend, I had to re-deploy a portion of my VCF 9.1 Fleet, including VCF Operations, VCF Management Services, VCF License Server, SDDC Manager and VCF Automation, due to some workflows I was testing.

Luckily, my core SDDC components vCenter, NSX and vSAN was not touched and I could simply re-use those components by running the VCF Installer Import/Converge process to quickly rebuild my VCF 9.1 Fleet!

Prior to deleting VCF Operations, I had VCF Single Sign-On (SSO) configured and I wanted to make sure the core SDDC components were properly cleaned up. I successfully ran through the VCF SSO unjoin operation for all components and cleaned up the vCenter Server Advanced Setting (config.OPERATIONS.vcf.sso.ops.cluster.id), which was required with VCF 9.0.x before you could add it to a new VCF SSO configuration.


After my VCF 9.1 Fleet was re-deployed, the first thing I wanted to go setup was VCF SSO and I noticed the configuration button was grayed out and it had the following message:

No VCF instance available due to one of the following: no existing instance, invalid license, version below 9.0, setup in progress, already configured via another Operations or running ELM.

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ESXi on GMKtec EVO-X1 with AMD Ryzen AI Pro 300 Series (formally Strix Point)

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My experiences with small form factor (SFF) systems and Mini PCs over the years have primarily involved Intel-based systems, as they have been the most capable and compatible with the VMware ESXi Hypervisor—especially when it comes to onboard networking options.

Intel's introduction of their Hybrid CPU core architecture starting with 12th Gen (Alder Lake) and continues with 13th Gen (Raptor Lake), 14th Gen (Meteor Lake), and now 15th Gen (Arrow Lake), presents a unique challenge for running ESXi.

When AMD announced their Ryzen AI 300 Series processors (formally codenamed Strix Point) based on their new Zen 5 architecture, I was pretty excited with their approach to a "Hybrid" processor:

AMD's approach to its 'compact' Zen 5c cores is inherently different than Intel's approach with its e-cores. Like Intel's E-cores, AMD's Zen 5c cores are designed to consume less space on a processor die...But the similarities end there. Unlike Intel, AMD employs the same microarchitecture and supports the same features with its smaller cores.

Since both the Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores contain the exact same CPU features, they would be considered uniform cores unlike the Intel platform, which now includes three different core types (Performance, Efficiency & Low-Power Efficiency), requiring additional workarounds to be able to utilize most of the cores available on the SoC.

While there is currently only a handful of Ryzen AI Pro 300 Series kits that are available for purchase, I was fortunate to get hands on with one from a company called GMKtec, who is a relatively new player in the small form factor market. I have personally never used a GMKtec system before, so I was looking forward to seeing what they had to offer.


Disclaimer: As of publishing this blog post, a fellow colleague has not had any luck in contacting GMKtec to initiate a return, they have been completely non-responsive for several weeks now. I have also observed simliar negative feedback on various Reddit threads, which is certainly concerning for potential prospects. Users may want to consider purchasing GMKtec systems using Amazon, rather than directly from the vendor in case you need an exchange or return.

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Quick Tip - Block or remove download URL for VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in (EAP)

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There was a new VMware Security Advisory (VMSA-2024-0003) that was published this week that affects the deprecated VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in (EAP) and as part of the remediation, per VMware KB 96442, there are instructions on how to uninstall the EAP plugin from desktop systems that had it installed.

I also noticed there were also questions from the community about disabling the EAP download itself, which is available as a hyperlink from the vSphere UI login page as shown in the screenshot below.


Having spent some time exploring and customizing the vSphere UI login page back in 2015, I knew there were a few ways of either blocking and/or removing the download URL all together, so I figure I would put together the list of options depending on what users were comfortable with.

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