2V0-17.25 VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Administrator Questions and Answers

VCF 9.0 describes the VKS architecture and explicitly notes: “The Cluster API provides declarative, Kubernetes-style APIs for cluster creation, configuration, and management.” Inputs include resources describing the cluster, VMs, and add-ons. Provisioning flows also present ClusterClass/Cluster API as the supported “cluster type” when creating a Kubernetes cluster via self-service. These extracts confirm that Cluster API is the foundational component used by VMware Kubernetes Service (VKS) on vSphere Supervisor to bootstrap and manage Kubernetes workload clusters in VCF 9.0.

===========

For dark site (air-gapped) deployments, VMware Cloud Foundation requires the use of the VCF Download Tool to retrieve the required software bundles from a connected system before transferring them into the isolated environment.

The VCF 9.0 Installation Guide specifies:

“For deployments in disconnected or air-gapped environments, use the VCF Download Tool on a connected system to download required bundles and then transfer them to the target environment.”

The VCF Installer (A) consumes bundles but does not download them.

SDDC Manager (B) can download bundles only in connected mode.

Broadcom Downloads (D) is the source portal, but not the supported workflow tool for preparing offline repositories.

Therefore, the correct method for dark site deployments is to use the VCF Download Tool.

The VCF 9.0 Convergence and Migration Guide outlines prerequisites and unsupported configurations when moving from a standalone vSphere deployment into VCF-managed workload domains.

Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM) must be removed:VCF does not support multiple vCenters joined in Enhanced Linked Mode. Each workload domain has its own dedicated vCenter instance, managed by SDDC Manager. The documentation states:“Before convergence, Enhanced Linked Mode must be deactivated. VCF requires independent vCenters for each workload domain.”

Lifecycle Manager must use Images only:VCF lifecycle operations are exclusively image-based. Baselines are not supported.“All clusters managed by VCF must be converted to vSphere Lifecycle Manager image-based lifecycle management prior to convergence.”

Other options are not required:

25 Gbps uplinks (A) are recommended for high throughput but not mandatory; 10 Gbps uplinks are supported.

An additional vMotion VMkernel (C) is not required by default, as standard vMotion networking is included in convergence designs.

vSphere Standard Switches (D) are not supported; VCF requires Distributed Switches, and existing vDS configurations can be adapted.

Therefore, the two configurations that must change are: Deactivate Enhanced Linked Mode (B) and switch Lifecycle Manager to Images only (E).

In VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, the construct of VM Applications Organizations was deprecated in favor of All Applications Organizations. The documentation highlights this change:

“Organizations for All Applications provide a unified model for managing both VM and Kubernetes workloads. They support third-party integrations such as Tanzu Salt and Active Directory, and enable deployments to Native Public Cloud endpoints.”

Since the customer upgraded from VCF 5.2, their first new Organization after the upgrade must use the All Applications model. VM Applications Organizations (Option A) are legacy and do not support the full feature set such as NPC or third-party integrations. Option C is incorrect because the Fleet Management API is for monitoring and operational insights, not for creating Organizations.

Therefore, the administrator must create the new Organization as an All Applications Organization in the VCF Automation Provider Management Portal.

The VCF 9.0 Upgrade Documentation clearly outlines a staged upgrade sequence: “The upgrade to VCF 9.0 begins with the SDDC Manager upgrade. Only after SDDC Manager is upgraded to 9.0 are the other component bundles (vCenter, ESXi, NSX, Operations) made available for download and application.”

This design ensures SDDC Manager is compatible with the lifecycle operations required for the rest of the environment. If SDDC Manager is not upgraded first, it cannot process or display other bundles. Offline repositories (A), proxy servers (B), or ASYNC tools (C) do not affect the bundle visibility order. Therefore, the correct answer is D. SDDC Manager must be upgraded first.

According to the VCF 9.0 Container Registry Documentation, Harbor is defined as:

“Harbor is an open source registry that secures artifacts with policies and role-based access control, ensures images are scanned and free from vulnerabilities, and signs images as trusted.”

This description aligns exactly with option A. Harbor is not Bitnami (B), though it integrates with open-source images. It includes vulnerability scanning but is not only an image scanner (C). It does not require GitHub as a source (D); Harbor can integrate with multiple registries.

Therefore, Harbor’s primary role within VCF is to act as a secure image registry with RBAC, scanning, and signing capabilities.

Per the VCF 9.0 Automation Provider Management Guide:

Supervisor Activation: “Kubernetes-based workloads require Supervisor to be enabled in the Management Domain before deploying organizations.”

Region Configuration: “Organizations for All Applications must be deployed into a preconfigured Region, defined in the Provider Management Portal.”NSX Federation (D) is optional for multi-site deployments. Supervisor is not activated in workload domains (B) but centrally in the management domain. VMware Kubernetes Service (E) is enabled per tenant but not required before Organization creation. Thus, correct prerequisites are A and C.

The VCF 9.0 Deployment Guide notes: “All ESXi hosts must be installed with a supported ESXi version using a VMware ISO before they are commissioned into SDDC Manager. Commissioning is always performed via the management domain vCenter.” The new workload domain vCenter does not exist until the domain is deployed, ruling out option A. The VCF Installer is used for initial bring-up, not workload domain expansion (E). Therefore, the two required steps are: install ESXi using a valid ISO (D) and commission hosts via the management domain vCenter (B).

In VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, certificate replacement procedures for components such as:

vCenter Server

NSX Manager

SDDC Manager

Aria Suite components

require certificates to be provided in PEM format.

From the VCF 9.0 documentation under Certificate Management:

“When replacing certificates with CA-signed certificates, provide the certificate and private key in PEM format.”

Additionally:

“The certificate file must include the full chain (server certificate and intermediate certificates) in PEM encoding.”

Why PEM?

PEM format:

Base64 encoded

Human-readable

Common format for VMware components

Required for SDDC Manager certificate import workflows

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect

A. PFX (PKCS#12)Contains private key and certificate bundled together; not the required format for VCF certificate replacement workflows.

B. DERBinary format; VMware Cloud Foundation certificate workflows require Base64 PEM format.

D. P7B (PKCS#7)Does not contain private key; unsuitable for certificate replacement.

Document References (VCF 9.0)

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → Security and Certificate Management

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → Replace Certificates with CA-Signed Certificates

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → Certificate Requirements and Formats

The vSphere 9.0 Resource Management Guide describes Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) as the mechanism that masks CPU instruction set differences across ESXi hosts, presenting a consistent baseline to VMs.

The documentation states:

“EVC ensures vMotion compatibility across hosts with different CPU generations by exposing a uniform set of CPU features to all virtual machines in the cluster.”

vSphere Fault Tolerance (A): Provides continuous availability for individual VMs but does not address CPU instruction compatibility.

vSphere Availability (B): Refers to HA (High Availability) which handles VM failover, not CPU feature alignment.

Host Affinity Rules (C): Control placement of VMs but cannot solve compatibility between mixed CPU generations.

Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (D): Specifically addresses the requirement for vMotion and DRS across mixed CPU generations, making it the correct answer.

The requirement is to ensure DNS records are created only when a domain name is provided.

Since the blueprint includes a custom property for domainName, the correct conditional logic in the event subscription must validate that this property is not null.

Adding the condition:

event.data.customProperties['domainName'] != null

ensures the workflow executes only when the domain name is provided.

Option B validates hostname instead of domain name.

Option A controls workflow blocking, not conditional execution.

Option C relates to cleanup, not creation condition validation.

In VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), network segments (both overlay and VLAN-backed segments) are created and managed through VMware NSX, specifically via the NSX Manager interface.

The VCF 9.0 Networking documentation states that:

“NSX Manager provides centralized management for logical switching, routing, security, and segment creation within a workload domain.”

A network segment in VCF corresponds to an NSX logical segment, which is used to provide Layer 2 connectivity to workloads. These segments are defined within NSX and can be attached to Tier-0 or Tier-1 gateways depending on routing requirements.

Other options are incorrect:

vCenter (A) manages ESXi hosts and VMs but does not create NSX logical segments.

VCF Operations (C) is used for monitoring and analytics, not configuration.

SDDC Manager (D) handles lifecycle management and domain creation but does not directly create network segments.

Therefore, the administrator must use NSX Manager to create a new network segment in VMware Cloud Foundation.

When using Fibre Channel (FC) as the principal storage type for a workload domain in VMware Cloud Foundation, storage must already be provisioned and visible to all participating ESXi hosts.

The VCF documentation specifies that for VMFS on FC deployments:

Storage LUNs must be created on the SAN.

The LUNs must be zoned and presented to all ESXi hosts.

Hosts must be able to detect the presented LUNs before domain creation.

Incorrect options:

SSD disks (A) are required for vSAN, not Fibre Channel.

Port binding (B) is required for iSCSI, not FC.

A VMkernel interface for storage (D) is required for IP-based storage (NFS/iSCSI), not Fibre Channel.

Therefore, the key prerequisite is ensuring LUNs are presented to all ESXi hosts.

The VCF 9.0 Automation and Orchestration Guide explains how Orchestrator integrates with VCF Automation to provide workflow-driven services such as Active Directory management.

Orchestrator Integration (B):The tenant must be connected to the dedicated Orchestrator instance rather than the embedded one. Documentation notes: “Each tenant can integrate with its own Orchestrator endpoint for workflow execution.”

AD Plugin Configuration (E):The Orchestrator Active Directory plugin must be configured against the development AD only, ensuring that the development team does not impact the production directory.

Publish Workflow (C):The AD user creation workflow must be published to the VCF Automation catalog using the Content Hub. Actions alone are insufficient; workflows are the full automation logic exposed to end users.

Custom Resource Object (F):To enable developers to create and destroy AD accounts, a Custom Resource object must be created in VCF Automation and mapped to the Orchestrator workflows. This provides lifecycle capabilities (create/destroy) in the self-service catalog.

Options A and D are incorrect because publishing only the “action” is not sufficient (workflows are required), and the plugin must not point to production AD. Option G is incorrect because the dedicated Orchestrator has already been deployed, so the embedded Orchestrator is not used.

In VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, the VCF Fleet Disaster Recovery Design Model explicitly requires deployment of VMware Live Recovery (VLR) to provide:

Cross-instance disaster recovery

Site pairing between regions

Protection of management and workload domains

Orchestrated failover and failback

From the VCF 9.0 Fleet Architecture documentation:

“To implement a Fleet-level disaster recovery model across multiple VCF instances in different regions, deploy VMware Live Recovery to provide orchestration, replication, and recovery operations between paired VCF instances.”

The Fleet DR design requires:

A primary VCF instance (Region A)

A secondary VCF instance (Region B)

VMware Live Recovery to manage DR workflows across instances

Other options are incorrect:

DSM – Provides database-as-a-service capabilities, not DR orchestration.

VCF Operations HCX – Used for workload mobility, not DR orchestration.

VCF Operations – Provides monitoring and observability, not DR functionality.

Document reference (VCF 9.0):

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → VCF Fleet Architecture → Disaster Recovery Design Model

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → VMware Live Recovery Integration with VCF

According to VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 documentation for VCF Automation (Aria Automation integration):

To deploy workloads to specific NSX segments with VLAN-based selection and IPAM integration, the administrator must:

1️⃣ Configure Network IPAM Settings (Option C)

VCF Automation requires network segments to be associated with IPAM configuration:

“To enable automatic IP allocation for workloads, configure network profiles with gateway, subnet, and IP range details for the associated networks.”

This ensures automatic IP address allocation from the internal IPAM.

2️⃣ Create a Network Profile and Associate Segments (Option D)

VCF Automation uses Network Profiles to group NSX segments and associate them with projects:

“A network profile defines the networks available to a project and includes capability tags that are matched during workload deployment.”

Including all appdev segments in a dedicated network profile ensures logical isolation from other projects.

3️⃣ Use Capability Tags for VLAN Selection (Option F)

VCF Automation uses capability tags to match user input to infrastructure:

“Capability tags applied to networks can be matched in cloud templates to dynamically select networks based on user-defined inputs.”

By applying vlan: tags to each segment, a self-service user can specify a VLAN number that determines which segment is selected during deployment.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect

A – Custom groups are not required for network selection.

B – Tagging segments alone is insufficient without associating them through a network profile.

E – Adding networks to the existing development project violates logical isolation requirements.

Document reference (VCF 9.0):

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → VCF Automation → Projects and Network Profiles

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → Network Profiles and IPAM Configuration

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → Capability Tags and Network Selection

VCF Operations primarily focuses on metrics, performance, and health monitoring. However, detailed event-level data, log entries, and historical audit records are not fully captured unless log aggregation is enabled.

The VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 documentation explains:

“VCF Operations for Logs provides centralized log aggregation and analytics across all VCF components, including ESXi, vCenter, NSX, and other infrastructure services.”

This solution enhances troubleshooting by:

Collecting syslogs and events from infrastructure components

Providing searchable log data

Correlating events across services

Retaining detailed historical log information

Other options are incorrect:

Management Pack (A) extends metrics, not detailed logs.

VCF Automation (B) is unrelated to troubleshooting logs.

Operations Diagnostics (C) is not the primary log aggregation solution.

Therefore, to capture missing event data for future incidents, the administrator should deploy VCF Operations for Logs.

Document reference (VCF 9.0):

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → Observability and Monitoring Architecture

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → VCF Operations and VCF Operations for Logs

The VCF Automation Costing and Pricing Guide explains:

“Define core costs for CPU, memory, and storage under Base Settings to apply fleet-wide.” (A)

“Mark the created policy as the default to ensure it applies globally.” (B)

For SAP HANA, “Create an exception policy under Base Settings with VM setup charges assigned to the SAP HANA cluster.” (E)Default Policy (C, F) is system-reserved. Sub-policies under “Resources” (D) are not valid. Correct configuration steps: A, B, E.

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 documentation for vSphere Supervisor and Kubernetes workload management specifies that Kubernetes-native backup and restore for Supervisor-provisioned clusters is performed using Velero.

From the VCF 9.0 documentation covering Supervisor Services and Kubernetes workload protection:

“For backup and restore of Kubernetes workloads deployed on clusters enabled with vSphere Supervisor, VMware supports the use of Velero to protect Kubernetes resources and persistent volumes.”

Velero is Kubernetes-native and integrates with the Supervisor cluster to protect:

Namespaces

Kubernetes objects

Persistent volumes

TKG clusters

The other options are incorrect for this use case:

Site Recovery Manager (now part of VMware Live Site Recovery) protects vSphere VMs at the infrastructure level, not Kubernetes objects.

Restic is a backup utility used by Velero internally but is not the primary supported platform tool.

VMware Live Recovery is used for disaster recovery at the VM/site level, not Kubernetes-native backup inside Supervisor.

Document reference (VCF 9.0):

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 → Workload Management → Supervisor Services → Backup and Restore for Kubernetes Workloads (Velero support section).

According to the VCF 9.0 Operations and Monitoring Guide:

Fleet Management: “VCF Operations Fleet Management enables cross-instance monitoring, unifying health and metrics across multiple VCF instances.”

Operations for Networks: “Provides application and network visibility, dependency mapping, and traffic analytics. Required to complete full-stack monitoring.”

Core VCF Operations is already deployed as part of the management stack and does not need to be added separately. Operations for Logs is optional for log aggregation, not mandatory for full-stack observability. The Management Pack Builder (C) is an add-on tool for custom packs, not a required component. Therefore, the correct two to add for full-stack monitoring are VCF Operations Fleet Management (A) and VCF Operations for Networks (E).

When converging an existing vSphere cluster into a VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Fleet, the cluster must already be a functional vSphere environment. According to the VCF 9.0 Convergence Guide, the minimum prerequisites for convergence include:

A deployed and operational vCenter Server managing the cluster.

ESXi (VMware ESX) hosts installed and joined to that vCenter cluster.

The documentation states:

“The vSphere environment to be converged must consist of ESXi hosts managed by a supported vCenter Server instance.”

NSX (C) is not required before convergence because NSX is deployed and configured as part of the VCF bring-up or workload domain conversion process.

VCF Operations (D) is not a prerequisite for cluster convergence.

vSAN (E) is optional because VCF supports multiple principal storage types (vSAN, VMFS, NFS).

Therefore, the required components that must exist prior to convergence are VMware ESX hosts and VMware vCenter Server.

When converging an existing vSphere environment into VCF, certain architectural requirements must be satisfied.

The VCF 9.0 Convergence Guide states that:

The vCenter Server must be running on a cluster it manages (self-managed cluster) to allow SDDC Manager to take ownership during convergence.

Incorrect options:

Baselines (A) are not required; in fact, VCF requires image-based lifecycle management after convergence.

VDS version 7.0 (C) is not a documented prerequisite.

NSX (D) is not required prior to convergence; NSX can be deployed during workload domain bring-up.

Therefore, the required prerequisite is:

vCenter Server VM must be hosted on a cluster it manages.

The VCF Operations for Networks (formerly vRNI) enables Application Discovery and Network Visibility. According to VCF 9.0: “Operations for Networks provides flow-based application discovery, dependency mapping, and security planning. This allows administrators to visualize application topology and relationships across the VCF fleet.” By contrast, VCF Operations for Logs provides log aggregation, while the Collector provides integration for metrics, not discovery. The vSphere Supervisor enables Kubernetes workloads, not application discovery. Therefore, to achieve Service and Application Discovery, administrators must deploy VCF Operations for Networks.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

The Istio integration in VCF 9.0 defines two main logical groupings for organizing workloads within a service mesh: Cluster groups and Service groups. The documentation notes: “Cluster groups allow you to organize and manage objects across different Kubernetes clusters. Service groups let you aggregate and manage services that share common policies, routing rules, or observability requirements.” .

These groups enable administrators to apply consistent service mesh policies across multiple deployments and clusters. They also simplify administration by centralizing traffic management, routing, and observability of workloads. Security, API, and Node are not Istio-specific grouping constructs but instead are other concepts used elsewhere (e.g., security policies, API endpoints, node objects in Kubernetes). Therefore, the correct group types used in Istio Service Mesh are Cluster and Service groups.

To integrate VCF Automation with an external CMDB (such as ServiceNow) for compliance and tracking of Kubernetes or VM resources, the system utilizes a specific extensibility framework. According to the VCF 9.0 documentation on "Integrating VCF Automation for ITSM with ServiceNow":

Event Subscriptions (D): These act as the trigger mechanism within the VCF Automation Event Broker Service. When a resource (such as a Kubernetes cluster or deployment) is provisioned, an event is published. An administrator creates a subscription to listen for these specific lifecycle events (e.g., Compute.PostProvision or Kubernetes-specific topics) to initiate the registration process.

VCF Operations orchestrator (B): This is the orchestration engine (formerly known as VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator or vRO). Documentation specifies that for CMDB and ITSM compliance, VCF Automation is integrated with VCF Operations orchestrator workflows. These workflows contain the complex technical logic required to:

Separate objects and feed inputs into technical integration tasks.

Handle API tokens and authentication for the external CMDB.

Execute the REST API calls to the CMDB (e.g., to the cmdb_ci_vmware_instance table).

Update custom properties (like serviceNowSysId) back into the deployment for future decommissioning lifecycle events.

Extract from VCF 9.0 Documentation:

"Enterprise users commonly integrate their Cloud Management Platform with an IT Service Management (ITSM) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) platform for compliance. Following this example, you can integrate VCF Automation with ServiceNow for CMDB and ITSM using VCF Operations Orchestrator Client... This integration uses Event Subscriptions to trigger VCF Operations Orchestrator workflows."

VCF Operations Continuous Availability (CA) requires a multi-node deployment including a witness node. The standard deployment path involves:

Deploying VCF with High Availability (HA) mode initially (E).

Deploying required nodes including the Witness node (D).

Completing deployment of a Continuous Availability cluster (A).

Connecting to an existing instance (B) does not meet the requirement.

Conversion (C) alone is insufficient without proper CA cluster deployment.

Deploying without VCF Operations (F) violates design requirements.

The VCF 9.0 Automation Guide details the use of Property Groups to standardize blueprint inputs and constants across projects. Property Groups allow administrators to define sets of inputs (like size, os, location) and constants (like salt master id) centrally, ensuring consistency across deployments.

The correct actions are:

Create a new Property Group for input properties (C) to capture the standard inputs (size, os, location).

Create a new Property Group for constant properties (E) to include items like the salt master id.

Update all existing blueprints in the production project with the new Property Groups (F) to enforce standardization across new and existing workloads.

Options A and B are incorrect because changes are not required in the appdev project or across the entire organization—only the production project. Option D is redundant since inputs and constants should be separated into distinct groups.