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Purpose: For platform engineers, operators, shows how to deploying openCenter clusters on VMware vSphere.

Quick reference for deploying openCenter clusters on VMware vSphere.

Prerequisites

  • Pre-provisioned Ubuntu 24.04 VMs

  • Static IP addresses assigned

  • SSH access from bastion host

  • vCenter credentials (for CSI driver)

Quick Setup

1. Initialize Cluster Configuration

opencenter cluster init my-cluster --type vmware --org myorg

2. Edit Configuration

Open the generated configuration and fill in the VMware provider block:

opencenter cluster configure myorg/my-cluster

Minimal required VMware configuration:

opencenter:
  infrastructure:
    provider: vmware
    cloud:
      vmware:
        vcenter_server: vcenter.example.com
        datacenter: Datacenter1
        datastore: datastore1
        nodes:
          - {name: master-1, ip: 192.168.1.10, role: master}
          - {name: master-2, ip: 192.168.1.11, role: master}
          - {name: master-3, ip: 192.168.1.12, role: master}
          - {name: worker-1, ip: 192.168.1.20, role: worker}
          - {name: worker-2, ip: 192.168.1.21, role: worker}

3. Validate Cluster

opencenter cluster validate myorg/my-cluster

4. Deploy

opencenter cluster generate my-cluster
opencenter cluster deploy my-cluster

Node Configuration

Each node requires:

  • name: Hostname or FQDN

  • ip: Static IPv4 address

  • role: master or worker

Optional fields:

  • uuid: VM UUID from vCenter

  • mac_address: Primary NIC MAC address

vSphere CSI Driver

Enable persistent storage:

opencenter:
  services:
    vsphere-csi:
      enabled: true

secrets:
  vsphere_csi:
    vcenter_host: vcenter.example.com
    username: administrator@vsphere.local
    password: "encrypted-with-sops"
    datacenters: Datacenter1

Common Issues

SSH Connection Failed

# Test connectivity
ssh ubuntu@192.168.1.10 hostname

Node Not Ready

# Check kubelet
ssh ubuntu@192.168.1.10 "systemctl status kubelet"

Storage Not Working

# Verify CSI driver
kubectl get pods -n kube-system | grep vsphere-csi

Key Differences from OpenStack

| Feature | OpenStack | VMware | | --- | --- | --- | | VM Provisioning | Automatic | Manual | | Terraform | Yes | No | | Node Scaling | Dynamic | Manual | | Storage | Cinder CSI | vSphere CSI | | Load Balancer | Octavia | MetalLB |

Next Steps

  • ./vmware.md[Full VMware Guide]

  • ../reference/platform-services.md[vSphere CSI Configuration]

  • ../getting-started/getting-started.md[Kubespray Deployment]