As a VMware Technical Account Manager (TAM) working closely with service providers, I often encounter a variety of challenges and learning opportunities with VMware Cloud Director (VCD). Version 10.6, with its enhanced multi-tenancy, networking capabilities, and Kubernetes integration, has brought significant advancements. However, these advancements come with their own set of operational hurdles. Here, I’ll share some of the most frequent issues I’ve observed in the field and the solutions that worked for our service provider customers.
1. Proxy Configuration Failures:
Issue: During initial setup or when configuring external connections, outgoing traffic through a proxy fails if the proxy settings contain a trailing slash.
Scenario: A service provider reported that their newly deployed VCD 10.6 environment was unable to connect to public cloud services for integration. On investigation, we found the proxy configuration was incorrect due to a trailing slash.
Solution: Ensure the proxy settings do not include trailing slashes. For example, update /etc/environment
and remove any trailing slashes in the http_proxy
and https_proxy
variables. Restart the relevant services to apply the changes.
2. Slow API Response Times:
Issue: Service providers managing large-scale environments observed that API calls took longer than expected, causing delays in automation workflows.
Scenario: One customer managing over 50 tenants reported significant delays in their CI/CD pipeline that relied on VCD APIs.
Solution: Optimizing the PostgreSQL database resolved the issue. Regularly analyze the database performance, clean up unused data, and ensure the VCD appliances have adequate CPU and memory resources allocated. Additionally, enabling API rate-limiting can help prioritize critical workloads.
3. Org VDC Creation Fails:
Issue: Creating an Org VDC fails when the associated network pool configuration is invalid or incomplete.
Scenario: A service provider’s attempt to onboard a new customer stalled due to this error. Troubleshooting revealed that the backed NSX-T network pool was improperly configured.
Solution: Validate network pool configurations in advance. Use the VCD UI or API to check if the NSX-T resources (segments, Tier-1 gateways, etc.) are available and meet the requirements of the Org VDC. Running a health check on NSX-T before deployment is a good practice.
4. Tenant Portal Display Issues:
Issue: Resource utilization metrics in the tenant portal are incorrect or outdated.
Scenario: A tenant raised concerns that their portal showed incorrect CPU and memory usage for their workloads, leading to confusion about available resources.
Solution: Clear the browser cache as a quick fix for end-users. On the backend, refresh the metrics service on the VCD appliance by restarting the cell-management-tool
. Periodic syncing of metrics services can prevent such discrepancies.
5. Kubernetes Cluster Deployment Challenges:
Issue: Integrating Kubernetes with VCD 10.6 can sometimes lead to cluster creation errors.
Scenario: A provider experienced failed deployments when tenants tried to deploy Kubernetes clusters using the Container Service Extension (CSE). The issue was traced back to a lack of permissions on the underlying NSX resources.
Solution: Verify that the required NSX-T roles and permissions are correctly assigned to the VCD service account. Additionally, ensure that the Kubernetes cluster templates are updated and compatible with the CSE version.