--- url: https://www.vmware.com/docs/vmware-cloud-foundation-9-1-general-faqs --- ## VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 Release ### Q1. What are the new features in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1? A. Refer to the latest release notes to learn more about the features and capabilities provided by VCF. ### Q2. What is being delivered in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1? A. VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 includes the following primary components (for a complete list refer here): - vSphere - vSAN - NSX - vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) - VCF Operations - VCF Automation - HCX - VCF Private AI services ### Q3. What are the advanced services available for VMware Cloud Foundation? A. The following advanced services (add-ons) are available for VMware Cloud Foundation: - On-Premises Cyber Recovery - Cloud Cyber and Disaster Recovery - Workload Compliance Advanced Security - Load Balancing - Application Services - Secure Open-Source - Agentic Services - Network Observability - Business Operations - Identity/Agentic Security - vSAN Add-On Capacity Note - Advanced services are available for separate purchases and are not included in the core VCF offerings. ### Q4. What is VMware Cloud Foundation? A. VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is a comprehensive, private-cloud platform with integrated, enterprise-class compute, storage, networking, Kubernetes, management, and security, delivering a leading TCO as highlighted in this whitepaper: The Business value of VMware Cloud Foundation. ### Q5. Can I install the VMware Cloud Foundation software myself? A. Yes, however, it is highly recommended that you work with VMware Professional Services or your Solution Provider to receive assistance with your deployment. VMware provides documentation for customers to deploy the Cloud Foundation software on their own. Visit the Documentation page for more information on how to deploy VMware Cloud Foundation. ### Q6. What technical support options are available for VMware Cloud Foundation? A. Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support is included with VCF. Visit the Support & Services page for more information. ### Q7. What other Services and Lifecycle Support are offered? A. Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support is included with VCF. In addition, the following options are available: - VMware Pro Cloud Services: help customers adopt and consume VCF faster. These Professional Services are aligned to common customer use cases and were built by combining VMware Validated Solutions with field-proven best practices. - Extended Expert Services: provide a flexible way to add experienced VMware consultants to your team to accelerate your project timelines. - VCF Technical Adoption Manager (TAM): provides subject matter expertise to help you speed adoption by conducting technology assessments, providing solution guidance, and recommending operations optimizations. - VCF Jumpstart Workshops: help customers with recommended best practices and provide a tailored implementation and adoption plan to achieve their goals and maximize their VCF investment faster. - Learning: training and certification programs to grow your skills. ### Q8. Where can I find feature comparisons between VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation? A. Please see the VMware Feature Comparison document for detailed information on included features. ### Q9. Where can I find more information and resources? A. You can find additional VMware Cloud Foundation information here: - VMware Product Page - Documentation - Community - [Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support](https://www.broadcom.com/) - Professional Services and Lifecycle Support - VMware Learning ## Licensing ### Q10. When does the licensing change for customers who have both VCF 9.1 and previous software versions? A. VCF 9.1 licensing only applies when deploying or upgrading to VCF 9.1. A customer with VCF 5.x licensing environments will continue to use the previous license keys. Customers can run environments with both a VCF 9.1 and VCF 5.x licensing. ### Q11. When upgrading from VCF 5.x to VCF 9.0, how do I license the new VCF 9.0 environment? A. During the upgrade, the components move to ‘evaluation mode,’ and after the upgrade, they will need to be re-licensed with VCF Operations. ### Q12. What are the licensing changes in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0? A. Starting with version 9.0 of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), you license your environment by using a VCF Operations instance and the VCF Business Services console (vcf.broadcom.com). Subscription-based license files replace the use of the 25-character license keys. ### Q13. What is the VCF Business Services console? A. The VCF Business Services console is a section of the Broadcom support site for managing various aspects of the VMware Cloud Foundation private cloud experience. The licensing experience is one of the capabilities managed on this site. ### Q14. Is VCF Operations required to license VCF 9.0? A. Yes. VCF Operations is required to license VCF 9.0. License files created on the VCF Business Services console (vcf.broadcom.com) are uploaded to VCF Operations and assigned to the vCenters. ### Q15. What VCF Components are part of the new VCF 9 subscription-based licensing? A. VCF 9 licensing applies to VCF including all of its components: vCenter & ESX, vSAN, NSX, HCX, VCF Operations, VCF Automation, vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS), and VCF Private AI Services. Licensing for Advanced services such as AVI Load Balancer, vDefend Firewall and VMware Live Recovery continue to be licensed separately. ### Q16. What is in the License Usage File? A. It is important to note that the License Usage File exclusively gathers this specific information and, for clarity, does not collect Personal Data and Customer Data. The License Usage File only records the following license usage points described in the documentation here. ### Q17. Can I submit my license usage for sites without internet connectivity in a disconnected method? A. In VCF 9, licensing automatically collects license usage data into a file. Customers can send this file to Broadcom using either a connected, which is automated or a disconnected deployment method. A disconnected deployment does not require an internet connection for registration. ### Q18. How do I report my license usage? A. Please refer to the report licensing usage page for additional information. There are automated ways to report license usage for connected deployments. For disconnected deployments, there are APIs to leverage for licensing updates. ### Q19. How do I resume if the license reporting is late? A. Please refer to the license expiration information for additional information. There is a license enforcement time period that is described in the documentation. ### Q20. Where can I learn more details for the licensing steps in VMware Cloud Foundation 9? A. Please refer to the licensing overview for additional information. ### Q21. Where can I find my license entitlements? A. It is found on the Broadcom Support Portal. Go to [support.broadcom.com](https://support.broadcom.com) and then visit “My Entitlements.” ### Q22. What is the VCF License Server? A. The VCF License Server is a new, headless appliance introduced in VCF 9.1 that performs some license management logic and storage from VCF Operations. It provides centralized license management with local licensing data on a protected appliance in your environment. It is deployed and life cycled automatically during the installation or upgrade of VCF Operations. ## Perpetual Offerings ### Q23. Can VCF customers with perpetual licenses upgrade to VCF 9? A. No. Customers with perpetual licenses will need to switch to subscription licenses prior to upgrading. ## Workload Domains ### Q24. What is a management domain? A. The management domain is a special purpose workload domain that is used to host the infrastructure components needed to instantiate, manage, and monitor the Cloud Foundation infrastructure. The management domain is automatically created using the Cloud Builder appliance when it is initially configured, or by manually deploying a new VCF Operations fleet management instance to an existing vSphere cluster and converting it to a Management Domain. ### Q25. What are the different options for Single Sign-On (SSO) in VCF? A. VCF deploys Workload Domains with vCenter instances in Enhanced Link Mode (ELM), where all vCenter instances and VCF Operations fleet management in a single VCF deployment share the same local authentication credentials. Note that you can deploy some VI Workload domains in their own ELM configuration, called Isolated WLDs. vCenter also supports Single Sign-On with external Identity Providers for federated authentication. The VCF Operations fleet management has a dedicated workflow to configure federated SSO on all vCenter and NSX instances (Local Managers). SSO can be enabled manually on NSX Global Managers. ## Compute ### Q26. Is the memory tiering with NVMe supported on both traditional VMs and VM service based VMs? A. Memory tiering happens transparently at host level. This is done at the ESX level, completely transparent to how the VM was created, so it works for both traditional VMs and k8s VMs. ### Q27. Will the VCF Installer be replacing Cloud Builder? A. Yes. The new VCF Installer will completely replace Cloud Builder. The process will shift from using the Cloud Builder spreadsheet to a curated, guided set of steps through the VCF Operations UI, enhancing user experience and clarity. The VCF Installer also supports importing configuration templates using JSON files. ## Storage ### Q28. Will vVols be supported in VCF 9.X? A. VMware vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) capabilities will be deprecated beginning with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) version 9.0 and will be fully removed in a future release. Support for vVols (critical bug fixes only) will continue for VCF 5.x, and other older supported versions until end-of-support of those releases. Limited-time support may be considered on a case-by-case basis for customers desiring vVols support in VCF 9.0. Such customers should contact their Broadcom representative or Broadcom support for further guidance. We will offer best practices and recommendations to help customers migrate their vVol-based virtual machines to supported datastore types. ### Q29. Is vSAN required for the VCF Management Domain in VCF 9.0? A. No, vSAN is not required for the VCF Management domain, however it is recommended. VCF 9.0 supports either vSAN, NFS, or FC. ### Q30. What types of external storage are supported in VCF 9.0? A. VCF 9.0 supports several storage options for both the Workload and Management domains. Aggregated vSAN HCI clusters, or disaggregated vSAN storage clusters can be used for a fully integrated experience. Storage can also be provided using traditional storage arrays using block-based storage (Fibre Channel, iSCSI) or file-based storage (NFS) for both Workload and Management domains. ### Q31. What licenses are required for replication to vSAN ESA? A. vSAN local snapshot and replication capabilities are now included with the VCF license entitlement. ### Q32. Multi-tenant storage - Will VCF be able to provide logical separation of storage for multiple tenants? A. Yes. Logical delegation and management of volume services for VMs and Kubernetes is achieved through Supervisor namespaces. This allows for administrators to provide a logical set of storage resources for the purpose of VMs, VKS, databases, or partner integrations. ## Networking ### Q33. Is NSX Federation Supported in VCF 9.1? A. Yes, NSX Federation is supported with VCF 9.1. ## VCF Operations ### Q34. Why is VCF Operations required for licensing? A. VCF Operations provides simplified centralized license management for VCF. VCF Operations is a required component with each VCF fleet. The Business Support console and VCF Operations are where licenses are assigned and managed. ### Q35. Can I still monitor my Horizon environment using VCF Operations? A. As part of Broadcom’s divestiture of its End User Computing division, VMware Horizon is now owned by Omnissa. Consequently, Broadcom will no longer provide, effective March 28, 2025, General Support including Bug Fixes, Security Patches, or any updates for Aria Operations Management Pack for Horizon (MP4H). For customers who continue to use the Management Pack for Horizon, please work with Omnissa for any support or future development. ### Q36. What are the different options for Single Sign-On (SSO) in VCF? A. VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0’s unified SSO has streamlined the authentication process by eliminating the need to manage individual components. This proven capability continues to reduce administrative overhead while providing a more seamless experience for admins. Admins log in just once and gain seamless access to manage VCF components based upon their permissions. ### Q37. What changes with compliance with VCF Operation in VCF 9.0 versus VCF 9.1? A. Broadcom is transforming security management within VMware Cloud Foundation to address the modern need for proactive, cyber compliance infrastructure. In the upcoming VCF 9.1 release, we are evolving VCF Operations from simple observation to a comprehensive security posture management solution. To support this shift towards active defense, Security Posture Management is available which will cover the VCF components with remediation capabilities. ### Q38. Does VCF Operations help sending support bundles to Broadcom support? A. With the Log Assist feature, customers can now send support bundles to Broadcom support within the VCF Operations console. ## VCF Automation ### Q39. Do I need to migrate from VMware Aria Automation 8.x to VCF Automation in VCF 9.0? A. Customers can upgrade from VMware Aria Automation 8.x to VCF Automation in VCF 9.0. This does not require migration. ### Q40. Can I migrate from VMware Cloud Director (VCD) to VCF Automation in VCF 9? A. Yes, transitioning from VCD to VCF Automation in VCF 9.1 is now a supported, documented, and UI-based tool-assisted path. This migration requires updating your existing environment to VCD 10.6.2, which acts as the hardened baseline enabling your move to VCF 9.1. To begin, customers must run the Environment Assessment Tool (EAT) to collect environment-specific metadata. This metadata allows Broadcom to understand your current architecture to help prevent unexpected issues and enable a smoother transition. Once the EAT is complete, you can obtain the official migration documentation by emailing vcdmigration@broadcom.com with the subject line "Requesting VCD to VCFA Migration Documentation". ### Q41. If a customer has multiple Aria Automation 8.x how will that be upgraded? A. Multiple Aria Automation can be upgraded but customers need to choose only one Aria Automation which can be fully integrated to VCF Operation (which is called Integrated VCF Automation) and other Aria Automations will be in non-integrated mode. This means that the customer needs to manage them individually for upgrade and patch management. However, the integrated Aria Automation (first one) can be fully managed by VCF Operation. ### Q42. How can a customer access the VCF-optimized Ubuntu OS images from Canonical? A. VCF platform integration with Ubuntu OS from Canonical enables customers to access Ubuntu OS images optimized for VCF. This integration helps accelerate modern workload deployments, improve operational efficiency, and lower TCO. Customers with an active VCF subscription can deploy VCF-optimized Ubuntu OS images on cores licensed for VCF. VCF 9.1 provides native, secure access and automated delivery of Ubuntu OS images directly from the content library within VCF Automation. ## Application Platform ### Q43. What is VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service? A. VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) is a CNCF-certified Kubernetes runtime in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), enabling secure, simplified Kubernetes deployment, and lifecycle management for modern applications. ### Q44. What are the key benefits of VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS) in VCF? A. The key benefits of VKS are: - Lower TCO: Reduce silos, leverage existing tools and skill set without retraining and changing processes, and unified lifecycle management across infrastructure components. - Operational Simplicity: Built on familiar vSphere tools, skills, and workflows with automated cluster provisioning, upgrades, and lifecycle management at scale. - Deploy Kubernetes faster and at Scale: Achieve scale with support for up to 500 VKS clusters per supervisor, while accelerating deployment speeds through linked clone technology. - Secure & Compliant by Design: Confidently run sensitive and regulated workloads with built-in compliance, data residency, and sovereignty controls, and the ability to deploy isolated Kubernetes environments with flexible security postures at the cluster level. - 24 Months of Support: A period of 24 months of support for vSphere Kubernetes releases (VKr) reduces upgrade pressure, stabilizes environments, and frees up teams to focus on delivering value instead of constantly planning upgrades. - Open-Source Innovation: Contributing to the open-source community and leveraging a rich set of cloud services that deliver innovation with enterprise-grade support while avoiding the risks of DIY installations. ### Q45. What are the key use cases for VKS? A. The key use cases are: - App Modernization: Accelerate App velocity by leveraging built-in cloud services with centralized policies to manage access, networking, security, and configuration. - Regulated Workloads: Deploy isolated, FIPS compliant Kubernetes environments with flexible security postures to meet compliance, data sovereignty, and residency requirements. - AI/ML Workloads: Build and Run AI workloads by leveraging the built-in VCF Private AI services in VCF. - Modern Private Cloud Deployment: Ensure consistent Kubernetes operations across on-prem, hybrid cloud, and edge, so apps can run anywhere without silos or refactoring. - Dev/Test Environments: Easily spin up and tear down isolated Kubernetes clusters for parallel development QA, reducing costs and accelerating delivery cycles. ### Q46. Who are the key stakeholders and how do they benefit from VKS? A. The key stakeholders are: - Executives & Business Leaders: Execute on app modernization initiatives at lower TCO with consolidated infrastructure, faster time to value, and enterprise-grade security, while leveraging existing skills and reducing operational and compliance risk. - Platform Engineers: CNCF-Certified Kubernetes runtime with 24 months standard support to run all apps, scalable multi-cluster management, and consistent set of APIs to provision and manage all building-block services, easily integrated into your existing ecosystem of tools. - Cloud Admins: Single platform for running VMs and containers with consistent, simplified Kubernetes operations, centralized governance and policy, and flexible Kubernetes versions supported giving flexibility for upgrades. ### Q47. How do Broadcom's validated partner integrations with VKS deliver measurable business value to enterprises? A. Broadcom’s validated partner integrations provide a secure, enterprise-grade design across an extensive range of categories - including Cloud Native Networking, Storage, Security & Compliance, and API Management - all of which are natively aligned with the VCF platform. These collaborations eliminate the need for "custom glue code" by providing pre-validated solutions that streamline interoperability, accelerate innovation, and help enterprises achieve: - Faster time-to-value and reduced risk: By using pre-validated reference architectures. - Operational Efficiency: Leveraging familiar vSphere tools to manage Kubernetes environments. - Flexibility: Providing an open ecosystem that supports third-party tool integration, enabling customers to maintain operational consistency using their existing software stack. You can find out more about our partnerships in the Kubernetes space on our Kubernetes Ecosystem Partner page here. ### Q48. How does VKS ensure compatibility with the broader cloud-native ecosystem while allowing for customization? A. As a CNCF-certified distribution, VKS is extensible to any CNCF-conformant third-party services, allowing organizations to leverage their preferred solutions with VKS while maintaining interoperability standards. ## Fleet Management ### Q49. What is a “Fleet” and what does “Fleet Management” cover? A. VCF 9 introduces the concept of fleet management. A fleet refers to the collection of all VCF instances that are deployed by a customer across their environment. A fleet can run within a single region or span across multiple regions. A VCF Fleet consists of one or more VCF instances together with an instance of VCF Operations and VCF Automation. ### Q50. What is the new Identity & Access management feature (vSphere Identity Broker - VIDB), and how does this differ from the VIDM that was used in previous VCF releases? A. The VMware Identity Manager (VIDM) is still supported for vSphere 8.x and VCF 5.2x, allowing customers to transition to the Identity Broker for VCF. The Identity Broker for VCF is deployed as part of the process of setting up SSO for both new and upgraded VCF 9 environments. Once vCenter and NSX environments have been configured and tested with the Identity Broker, admins can then start migrating off VIDM and local authentication sources. The Identity Broker in VCF 9 transforms a collection of components into a truly unified platform, setting a new standard for simplicity and security in private cloud identity management. ### Q51. What are the new certificate management capabilities? A. In VCF 9, certificate management is now centralized under VCF Operations providing a single place to view and manage certificates. ## VCF Installer ### Q52. What is VCF Import? A. VCF Import refers to the capability of adding existing vSphere infrastructure to a Cloud Foundation private cloud. VCF Import was first released in VCF 5.2 as a CLI tool. In VCF 9, the VCF converge feature is fully integrated into VCF Installer (converting a management domain). VCF import is available from VCF Operations (importing a VI domain). ### Q53. What are the available options for turning existing vSphere clusters into VCF instances? A. Using the VCF Installer, customers can converge an existing vCenter/ESX 8.0 Update 3 and above environment to a VMware Cloud Foundation management domain. Using VCF Operations, customers can import vCenter/ESX 8.0 Update 1 (and above) environments to a VMware Cloud Foundation workload (VI) domain. Both approaches allow customers to leverage existing infrastructure and do not require downtime or a migration of applications or data. ### Q54. Can I import vSphere Clusters with non-vSAN storage? A. Yes. VCF 9 supports vSphere infrastructure running a choice of vSAN, NFS, VMFS on Fiber Channel (FC). These storage topologies are supported for both the management and workload (VI) domains. ### Q55. What are the supported vSphere versions that can be converted to a VCF management domain? A. VCF 9 with VCF Installer supports converging vSphere infrastructure running vCenter U3 or higher & NSX 4.2 to a management domain. ### Q56. Can I convert an existing vSphere 8.x environment running NSX 4.x as a VCF management domain? A. Yes. VCF 9.1 supports converting a vSphere environment running NSX 4.2 to a VCF management domain. ### Q57. What are the supported vSphere versions that can be imported to VCF as a workload (VI) domain? A. VCF 9 supports importing vSphere infrastructure running vSphere 8.0 Update 3 and NSX 4.2 and above. ### Q58. Can I import vSphere Clusters where NSX has been installed/enabled? A. Yes. VCF 9.1 supports importing vSphere clusters where NSX has been installed and configured as VI domains. Clusters to be imported must be running vSphere 8.0 Update 3 and NSX 4.2 (or above). VCF 9.1 supports converting vSphere clusters where NSX has been installed to a management domain. ### Q59. Can I import vSphere Clusters where NSX has not been installed/enabled? A. Yes. VCF 9 supports adding vSphere clusters where NSX has not been installed. NSX will automatically be deployed as part of the convert/import operation. Note that NSX installation is non-disruptive and transparent to running workloads. ### Q60. Can I import vSphere Clusters where VKS has been installed/enabled? A. Yes. VCF 9 supports importing vSphere clusters where VKS has been installed and configured. ### Q61. How do I determine when to use the VCF Installer or when to use VCF Operations to add existing infrastructure to VCF? A. In VCF 9 the import feature uses both the VCF Installer and VCF Operations. Use the VCF Installer to create a new VCF fleet/instance, and to converge an existing vSphere environment into a VCF management domain. To add additional vSphere environments to an existing VCF fleet/instance, use VCF Operations to import the vCenter instance(s) as a workload (VI) domain(s). ### Q62. Can I specify which clusters from my vCenter inventory to be added to VCF? A. No. Infrastructure is added at the vCenter level. The entire vCenter inventory will be added at the time the environment is converted or imported. ### Q63. What is the minimum cluster size that can be added to VCF as a management or VI workload domain? A. Refer to the VCF 9 documentation for supported configurations when converting or importing existing vSphere infrastructure to VCF. ### Q64. Can I deploy NSX edge clusters and configure virtual networking on converted or imported domains? A. Yes. All NSX features are supported on converted and imported domains to include VPCs, virtual networking (i.e., overlay networking), deploying edge clusters, and enabling edge-related services. ### Q65. Will VCF Installer still be a standalone tool in VCF 9.1? A. Yes. Some functionalities are in VCF Installer and some functionalities are directly integrated into the VCF Operations workflow, improving usability and reducing complexity. ## VCF Edge ### Q66. What is VMware Cloud Foundation Edge? A. VMware Cloud Foundation Edge is an optimized configuration of VMware Cloud Foundation specifically designed for edge use cases. It delivers a unified private cloud platform that enables organizations to deploy, operate, and scale infrastructure across thousands of edge sites with centralized automation, and consistent operations even in resource-constrained or disconnected edge environments. Please note that VMware Cloud Foundation Edge should be deployed at the Edge sites ONLY. ### Q67. How is VMware Cloud Foundation Edge different from VMware Cloud Foundation? A. VMware Cloud Foundation Edge contains all the core components of VMware Cloud Foundation. Additionally, it provides vSphere with vSAN Witness Appliance that can be deployed locally which is specifically useful in scenarios where customers do not want to use VCF Operations fleet management. ### Q68. Do I need to deploy all the components of VCF Edge to operate my edge sites? A. No. It is not mandatory to deploy all the components of VCF Edge. VMware Cloud Foundation Edge provides customers with the flexibility to choose and deploy either a full stack VCF or only vCenter along with VCF operations as per their business needs. However, note that VCF Operations, vCenter, and ESX are required to enable licensing for all edge sites. ### Q69. What are the minimum requirements for VMware Cloud Foundation Edge instances for each edge site? A. Customers have full flexibility to deploy Centrally managed, locally managed, or isolated edge sites with 1, 2, or 3 or more host configuration. Please refer to the VCF Edge Design guide for more details. ### Q70. Do I have the option to use vSAN witness for Edge deployments? A. Yes, customers have a choice to use vSAN witness in specialized hardware with a dedicated hardware slot remote in a central location. ### Q71. How many sites are required to license at a minimum for VCF Edge deployment? A. VCF Edge requires a minimum of 10 sites to be licensed, within a year of initial VCFE deployment, with a minimum of 8 cores per CPU and 256 Cores per Site maximum. ## Lifecycle Management ### Q72. How am I notified when patches/upgrades become available? A. Users need to log into the repository/VMware depot. Once logged in, users are automatically notified from the VCF Operations fleet management user interface when patches and upgrades become available. ### Q73. Can VCF Operations fleet management be upgraded by itself, asynchronously? A. Yes. VCF Operations fleet management is now decoupled from the VCF upgrade. We can now release critical VCF Operations fleet management fixes and features without upgrading the full stack and add new VCF Operations fleet management specific features at a faster pace. You have been able to do this previously, but it was not supported and could cause functions to break. It is now a supported feature. ## Protection and Recovery ### Q74. What capabilities from Protection and Recovery are included in VCF core entitlement? A. Following protection and recovery capabilities are included in VCF entitlement: 1. vSAN ESA based native snapshots (local snapshots) and vSAN Remote Replication for operational recovery 2. Remote backups to S3-compatible object store for vSphere Kubernetes Service 3. On-premises disaster recovery with enhanced vSphere Replication and RPOs as low as one minute 4. Tenancy-aware VM replication for disaster recovery natively built in VCF Automation ### Q75. What Protection and Recovery capabilities are not covered in core VCF entitlement? A. Protection and Recovery capabilities that are not covered in core VCF entitlements: - Cyber Recovery workflows with EDR integration (including Carbon Black entitlement for clean room) - Cloud disaster recovery ### Q76. Do we need a Protection and Recovery appliance for Operational Recovery? A. Yes. ### Q77. Are the locally stored snapshots for Operational Recovery immutable? A. Yes, you can choose the snapshots to be immutable. ### Q78. Do we have any visibility of Operational Recovery in VCF-Ops? A. Yes, it is natively available in VCF-Ops. ### Q79. What Protection and Recovery capabilities are enabled by default in VCF-Ops? A. vSAN Replication, vSAN local snapshots, vSphere Replication capabilities are native and come pre-installed in VCF-Ops. SRM Management pack has to be downloaded from the VMware Marketplace and then installed and added to VCF Operations. ## Advanced Services ### Q80. Is Data Services Manager (DSM) included in VCF 9.1? A. As of November 4, 2026, Data Services Manager (DSM) is now offered within the Broadcom TrueSource product family, presented within TrueSource data services. ### Q81. Are Data Services Manager (DSM) and the DSM consumption operator available as an option in the VCF installer as an option to be deployed and configured on VCF? A. No. It is deployed independently but it is natively integrated with VCF Automation and VCF Operations. ### Q82. What is included for a customer who previously purchased ACC? A. Existing ACC customers can continue to use the product until the end of their existing entitlement period. Once their subscriptions expire, they will have the option to purchase VMware Live Recovery to preserve the on-premises cyber recovery functionality and VMware Compliance and Configuration Management for workloads. ### Q83. Do customers who want to use Crowd Strike for cyber recovery need to bring their own license (BYOL)? A. VMware Live Recovery (on-premises cyber recovery) includes built-in restore point validation at no additional cost to the customer. However, if the customer chooses to use Crowdstrike as the EDR to test and validate workloads before recovery, they will need to bring their own license (BYOL). This should not result in additional costs for the customer as Crowdstrike licenses in the production site can be ported over to the recovery site while the primary is down. ### Q84. Is VMware Salt the same as open-source Salt? A. VMware Salt is built on top of open-source Salt. ACC powered by VMware Salt adds enterprise-level management with the RaaS or "Returner as a Service" interface, SecOps security compliance, and deeper integration with VMware Cloud Foundation. The RaaS manages multiple Salt Masters. It collects the job returns from the various Salt Masters and presents them in the GUI. ### Q85. How is VMware Compliance and Configuration Management purchased? A. VMware Compliance and Configuration Management is available as an Advanced Service for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). It can be added to new or existing VCF subscriptions to extend continuous compliance and automated governance across your workloads. ### Q86. Is VMware Compliance and Configuration Management available as a standalone product without VCF? A. No. VMware Compliance and Configuration Management is available as an Advanced Service to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) deployments to govern and secure workloads. ### Q87. How does VMware Compliance and Configuration Management differ from the compliance and configuration features in VCF Operations? A. VMware Compliance and Configuration Management extends governance beyond the infrastructure layer into the workloads themselves to manage, harden, and update the operating systems (such as Linux or Windows), middleware, and databases running on top of VCF. ### Q88. How are the capabilities provided by VMware Compliance and Configuration Management different from what is available to customers with core entitlements in VCF? A. Compliance and configuration management for workloads is possible through the VMware Compliance and Configuration Management add-on. Customers with a standard baseline VCF entitlement can use the Security Posture Management and the SecOps dashboard under Protect (a centralized view to monitor the overall security health and risk status of your environment) and Audit Trail Visibility (detailed logging and tracking of user actions and system changes to support forensic analysis). This includes compliance checks on the components within VCF. ### Q89. What compliance standards does VMware Compliance and Configuration Management support for workloads? A. Center for Internet Security (CIS), and Defense Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implementation Guides (DISA STIGs) frameworks allow teams to detect compliance issues and enforce requirements for multiple compliance standards. ### Q90. How many endpoints can a single Salt Master support? A. Each Salt Master can support up to 30k endpoints.