If you’ve worked with earlier versions of VMware Cloud Foundation, you probably remember that host commissioning was handled directly within SDDC Manager. It was straightforward, centralized, and exactly where you expected it to be. With VCF 9.x, that’s no longer the case.
The Initial Confusion
When approaching host commissioning in VCF 9.0 for the first time, it’s easy to assume the functionality has moved to VCF Operations, since it’s a pane-of-glass management for almost 90% of tasks. But that’s not where it lives.
The New Reality: It’s in vSphere
After a bit of digging, you’ll discover that host commissioning has actually moved into vSphere, specifically within the management domain’s vCenter.
Here’s how to find it:
- Connect to the Management Domain vCenter
- Open the hamburger menu (☰)
- Navigate to Global Inventory Lists
- Go to Hosts
At this point, things start to feel familiar again. Under Unassigned Hosts, you’ll find the “Commission Hosts” option. If you’ve worked with SDDC Manager 5.x, the workflow will look very similar; it’s just been relocated.
Commissioning Workflow
The process itself is straightforward:
- If you are commissioning many hosts at once, you can use the JSON option to provide the information for the hosts you want to commission, or you can manually provide the FQDN of the server.
- Choose the storage type:
- vSAN (ESA or OSA)
- Or other supported storage options
- Enter ESX credentials
- Validate and confirm fingerprints
Complete the commissioning process. Once done, the hosts will appear under Unassigned Hosts.
After commissioning, these hosts are ready for use. You can:
- Create a new Workload Domain
- Deploy a new cluster
- Scale existing clusters
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been searching in SDDC Manager or even VCF Operations, you’re not alone. The functionality is still there, just tucked away in a place you might not expect at first glance. Once you know where to look, though, the workflow feels familiar and just as efficient as before.