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VCF 9.1 - Quick Tip: Optimized Workflow for Configuring Distributed Transit Gateway (DTGW) with NSX Virtual Network Appliance (VNA)

08.11.2026 by William Lam // Leave a Comment

With VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, the Distributed Transit Gateway (DTGW) connectivity model now supports NSX stateful network services through the Virtual Network Appliance (VNA) cluster. This makes it easy for VI Admins to provision Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs), which can then be used to deploy vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) workloads using either vCenter Server or VCF Automation (VCFA).

One of the most underappreciated benefits is the ability to complete various NSX workflows including an entire VNA cluster deployment and DTGW configuration directly from vCenter Server, without having to switch to the NSX Manager UI. While NSX Manager still provides the underlying micro-frontend interfaces that are integrated into the vSphere UI, I appreciate having the flexibility to perform these workflows from either the vCenter Server or NSX Manager interface, depending on your roles and responsibilities within an organization.

While there are a number of community blog posts covering DTGW and VNA deployments, they typically start in the vSphere UI for the initial VNA deployment before switching to the NSX Manager UI to complete the remaining configuration, which is perfectly valid. Personally, I prefer using the vSphere UI for as many workflows as possible, especially since enabling vSphere Supervisor and vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) is also performed through the vSphere UI.

[Read more...]

Categories // NSX, VMware Cloud Foundation, vSphere Kubernetes Service, vSphere Supervisor

Quick Tip: Selective ESX Host Patching in VCF 9.1

08.10.2026 by William Lam // Leave a Comment

Prior to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, users could choose whether to apply an ESX update across all or a selected set of vSphere Clusters, but there was no additional granularity for selecting specific ESX hosts within a cluster. This has been a frequently requested capability, especially for excluding specific ESX hosts from an update or performing a controlled rollout across one or more vSphere Clusters.

Fleet Lifecycle Management in VCF 9.1 has been enhanced with a new custom host selection capability that allows users to select specific ESX hosts within a vSphere Cluster for patching.

[Read more...]

Categories // ESXi, VMware Cloud Foundation Tags // VCF 9.1

Playing with Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) in vSphere 9.1 using an ASUS NUC

08.07.2026 by William Lam // 2 Comments

Introduced in VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1, Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) is the next evolution of Auto Deploy. Like Auto Deploy, it automates both ESX installation and host configuration. Instead of relying on the traditional PXE/TFTP boot process and Host Profiles, ZTP uses modern UEFI HTTP Boot along with vSphere Configuration Profiles (VCP) to provision a fully configured ESX host that automatically registers itself into the desired vSphere Cluster.

While ESX has supported UEFI HTTP Boot for some time, adoption has been gradual as organizations continue to rely on existing PXE/TFTP-based deployment infrastructure. At the same time, the hardware ecosystem has steadily transitioned from legacy BIOS firmware to UEFI, making UEFI HTTP Boot more broadly available. Auto Deploy's iPXE implementation was a nice bridge to support traditional PXE/TFTP infrastructure while still getting the benefits of HTTP boot, especially when it comes to installing ESX over the network compared to a TFTP-based approach.

While cleaning out some old lab hardware, I came across a spare ASUS NUC 15 Pro that I was no longer using and wondered whether it supported UEFI HTTP Boot and could be repurposed for ZTP testing? 🤔

[Read more...]

Categories // ESXi, Home Lab, VMware Cloud Foundation, VMware vSphere Foundation, vSphere 9.1 Tags // ASUS, VCF 9.1, vSphere 9.1

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William is Distinguished Platform Engineering Architect in the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Division at Broadcom. His primary focus is helping customers and partners build, run and operate a modern Private Cloud using the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) platform.

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Recent

  • VCF 9.1 - Quick Tip: Optimized Workflow for Configuring Distributed Transit Gateway (DTGW) with NSX Virtual Network Appliance (VNA) 08/11/2026
  • Quick Tip: Selective ESX Host Patching in VCF 9.1 08/10/2026
  • Playing with Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) in vSphere 9.1 using an ASUS NUC 08/07/2026
  • Quick Tip: Automating ESX System Resource Pool Workaround Prior to 8.0 Update 3g 08/06/2026
  • Quick Tip: Automating PAK Upload & Installation for VCF Operations 08/05/2026
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