Release notes for VCF as a Service

Use these release notes to learn about the most recent updates to IBM Cloud® for VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service, including new features, component updates, usability enhancements, and bug fixes.

2025

23 May 2025

Public IP enhancements: You can open an IBM Support ticket to request additional public IP addresses. For more information, see Requesting additional public IP addresses.
Software currency update: This release provides the infrastructure upgrades for Veeam® Backup 12.3.1.
REST API updates: The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service API is updated with additional features. For more information, see the VCF as a Service API change log.

28 April 2025

Multitenant compute regional high availability resource pool support in Washington DC: A new multizone resource pool in the Washington DC region is now available for workloads that require 99.99% infrastructure availability. The Washington DC resource pool offers cross-data center high availability for both networking and compute resources. Additional compute regional high availability resource pools will be made available in other locations soon.

7 April 2025

vSAN stretched workload support

You can now create stretched vSAN™ high availability resource pools for existing single-tenant Cloud Director sites. The resource pool stretches across two data centers in a multizone region to increase availability and to protect critical workloads from unexpected downtime.

With vSAN stretched support, you can order a single-tenant or multitenant virtual data center (VDC) on a stretched resource pool.

Stretched resource pools are available only on some multitenant Cloud Director sites. Additional stretched resource pools will be made available over time.

Network regional high availability

To ensure high performance and effective load distribution, you can now order a regional high availability edge when you create a new single-tenant or multitenant VDC. Either deploy the regional high availability edge on a stretched resource pool or consolidate your network across two resource pools in a multizone region. For additional information, see Ordering virtual data center instances.

Immutable IBM Cloud Object Storage availability

Immutable IBM Cloud Object Storage provides an extra layer of security, by default, for shared Scale-out Backup Repositories (SOBRs) or when you order a dedicated SOBR through the Veeam® Backup service for your single-tenant and multitenant instances. For more information, see Managing Veeam for VCF as a Service.

Software currency update

This release provides an infrastructure upgrade for VMware NSX-T™ 4.2.1.2.

REST API updates

The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service API is updated with additional features. For more information, see the VCF as a Service API change log.

User interface updates and enhancements

The user interface is updated and provides the following enhancements.

The Profile CPU type field for Cascade Lake and Sapphire Rapids profiles is added to the cluster configuration for Cloud Director site and cluster orders.
The option to swap the primary and secondary network locations for a highly available network edge is available on the VDC summary page.

24 March 2025

IBM Cloud data center support for Madrid multitenant: VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Madrid region to host your multitenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

4 March 2025

IBM Cloud data center support for Madrid single-tenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Madrid region to host your single-tenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

14 February 2025

Intel Sapphire Rapids server availability

The following Intel Sapphire Rapids bare metal servers are now available for NFS and vSAN™ ESA host profiles, available only on vSphere 8. For more information, see the Host profile section in Planning for deployment.

Dual Intel® 6416H Xeon® Platinum
Dual Intel 8474C Xeon Platinum

Software currency update

This release provides the infrastructure upgrades for Veeam Backup 12.3.

Enhanced log access

Firewall logs are now available on the VMware Cloud Director tenant portal. For more information, see Viewing firewall logs for your edge gateway.

Additionally, the Organization vDC Gateway: Configure System Logging right is now available with this release.

If you use pre-configured Open ID Connect roles or any role other than the Organization Administrator role, you must manually update the rights to your roles. For more information about the recommended OIDC roles to use with the new right, see Recently introduced rights.

VMware Cloud Director Snapshots availability

You no longer need to open an IBM Support ticket to enable VMware Cloud Director Snapshots. By default, the snapshot limit is now set to 31.

REST API updates

The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service API is updated with additional features. For more information, see the VCF as a Service API change log.

User interface updates and enhancements

The user interface is updated and provides the following enhancements.

The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service resource page provides a new resource list view to better organize the Cloud Director site and VDC relationship and details. You can switch to the original resource list view.
The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service site details page for single-tenant instances provides the following improvements.
- The Networking tab now provides edge and VDC details.
- The Resource pool tab replaces the Infrastructure tab. The Resource pool tab provides location, compute, storage, cluster, and host details.
- A new Virtual data centers tab provides a summary of VDCs deployed on the Cloud Director site.

2024

13 December 2024

Intel Sapphire Rapids server availability

Dual Intel 8474C Xeon® bare metal servers are now available for vSAN ESA host profiles, available only on vSphere 8. For more information, see Planning for deployment.

Software currency update

This release provides an infrastructure upgrade for Veeam Backup 12.2 HF 7.7.

VMware Cloud Director Snapshots

You can now open an IBM Support ticket to enable VMware Cloud Director Snapshots to take multiple images of your virtual machines. Include the following details in the support ticket:

The snapshot count. You can request up to 31 images per virtual machine.
The URL to the VCF as a Service Cloud Director site.
Your VMware Cloud Director Organization ID.

Promotion code availability for new VCF as a Service pay-as-you-go customers

A new $1,000 limited-time credit promotion code, VCFAAS1000, is available for new VCF as a Service pay-as-you-go customers. Apply the promotion code during the provision process for any new VCF as a Service offering.

User interface updates and enhancements

The user interface is updated and provides the following enhancements.

The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service resource page provides guidance about the next steps to use your VCF as a Service instance.
The Summary tab of the Cloud Director site details page is better organized for you to view important information at a glance.

REST API updates

The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service API is updated with additional features. For more information, see the VCF as a Service API change log.

10 December 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for Sydney multitenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Sydney region to host your multitenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

9 December 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for Sydney single-tenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Sydney region to host your single-tenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

25 November 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for London multitenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the London region to host your multitenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

11 November 2024

Supported VPNs for VCF as a Service: You can now use route-based IPsec, policy-based IPsec, and L2 VPNs to connect your VMware workloads through the public network to VCF as a Service single-tenant and multitenant instances. For more information, see Operating VMware Cloud Director.
Software currency update: This release provides an infrastructure upgrade for VMware vCenter Server® Appliance 8.0 Update 3d.

25 October 2024

VMware Cloud Director IP Spaces availability

Beginning with VMware Cloud Director 10.6, VCF as a Service is moving to an updated edge architecture along with the use of IP Spaces. With this update, the networking views on the VMware console are updated. Most noticeably, the BGP settings are now located in the Provider Gateways view instead of the Edge Gateways view and include more views such as BGP summary and the option to download the routing table.

By default, each VDC with the public and private network edge connection is now provisioned with eight public IP addresses and one private IP address that is used for accessing the IBM Cloud private network. All public OS templates, by default, now have routability to the IBM Cloud private network, including licensed OS activation, OS updates, NTP, DNS, and Cloud Object Storage.

IP addresses are managed differently with this update and introduce changes to creating NAT and firewall rules. For more information, see Allocating public IP addresses for NAT rules and for VPNs.

New rights availability

Additional rights are available with this release. If you use pre-configured Open ID Connect roles or any role other than the Organization Administrator role, you must manually update the rights to your roles. For more information, see Recently introduced rights.

Software currency updates

This release provides the following infrastructure upgrades.

VMware Cloud Director 10.6.0.1
VMware vCenter Server® Appliance 8.0 Update 3b
VMware NSX-T 4.2.0.2
Veeam Backup 12.2
VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.7.3

15 October 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for London single-tenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the London region to host your single-tenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

24 September 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for Toronto multitenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Toronto region to host your multitenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

13 September 2024

Disaster recovery with VMware Cloud Director Availability: You can now use VMware Cloud Director Availability (VCDA) to configure a disaster recovery plan for your primary workload environment. For more information, see Protecting workload data in VCF as a Service with VCDA.
IBM Cloud Transit Gateway connection enhancements: You can now connect to a Transit Gateway instance in a region different from the Cloud Director site. For more information, see Using Transit Gateway to interconnect VCF as a Service with IBM Cloud services.
Software currency update: VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.7.2: This release provides infrastructure upgrades to VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.7.2.
REST API updates: The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service API is updated with additional features. For more information, see the VCF as a Service API change log.
New documentation: A new solution tutorial, Configuring disaster recovery with VMware Cloud Director Availability, is now available.

23 August 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for Toronto single-tenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Toronto region to host your single-tenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

16 August 2024

Software currency update: VMware vCenter Server Appliance 8.0 Update 2d: This release provides infrastructure upgrades to VMware vCenter Server Appliance 8.0 Update 2d.
Terraform: VCF as a Service provides Terraform in addition to APIs for creating, updating, and deleting VCF as a Service VDCs. For more information, see the Terraform registry.

1 August 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for Tokyo multitenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Tokyo region to host your multitenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

15 July 2024

IBM Cloud data center support for Tokyo single-tenant: VCF as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Tokyo region to host your single-tenant VMware workloads. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

14 June 2024

Private network connection availability for virtual data center orders

You can now select either a public and private network connection or a private-only network connection when you create your VDC with a network edge. For more information, see Network settings.

Scale-out Backup Repository for Veeam Backup

The Veeam Backup service now provides the option to order a dedicated Scale-out Backup Repository (SOBR) for your single-tenant and multitenant instances. For more information, see Ordering a dedicated Scale-out Backup Repository.

VMware Operations Manager availability

You can now access the Operations Manager service through the VMware Cloud Director tenant portal. Use Operations Manager to view your virtual machine metrics for new and existing organizations. For more information, see Accessing Operations Manager.

Software currency

This release provides the following infrastructure upgrades.

VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 3q
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 8.0 Update 2c
VMware NSX-T 4.1.2.4
Veeam Backup 12.1.2

REST API updates

The VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service API is updated with additional features. For more information, see the VCF as a Service API change log.

1 May 2024

Updated offerings for VMware Solutions

Existing IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions offerings are no longer available as separate components and are replaced by VMware Cloud Foundation. The following offering name changes are available across the portfolio, including the documentation and REST API.

VMware as a Service is now called VMware Cloud Foundation as a Service or VCF as a Service.
VMware vCenter Server, VMware vSphere, Cyber Recovery, and Regulated Workloads are merged into VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic or VCF for Classic.
VMware Cloud Foundation is now called VMware Cloud Foundation for VPC or VCF for VPC.

For more information, see Packaging and pricing for VMware by Broadcom.

Some documentation, including, but not limited to, tutorials, solutions architectures, solution guides, videos, and diagrams might still be using the old offering names. This information will be gradually updated to the new offering names in future releases.

Software currency

This release provides the following infrastructure upgrades.

VMware Cloud Director 10.5.1.1
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 8.0 Update 2b (00200)
VMware Cloud Director Availability 4.7.1

New host profiles for NFS and vSAN clusters

Additional bare metal server configurations are available for new and existing VCF as a Service Cloud Director site orders. For more information, see Planning the deployment.

User interface updates and enhancements

The user interface is updated and provides the following enhancements.

You can now review specifications and pricing on the order page to help you choose the VCF as a Service instance type and features that you want to order.
You can now access the VMware Cloud Director Availability (VCDA) console from the Add-on services tab on the virtual data center details page.

1 April 2024

Updated packaging and pricing for VMware Solutions offerings: IBM Cloud is changing its IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions portfolio and pricing, in response to the changes to the packaging and pricing of the VMware® portfolio, announced by Broadcom. These changes will be effective on 1 May 2024. For more information, see Packaging and pricing for VMware by Broadcom.
Updated pricing structure for RHEL for VMware as a Service: The Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) pricing is updated from the existing 2-tier pricing structure (Small and Large) to a 3-tier pricing structure (Small, Medium, and Large). For more information, see April 2024 price changes.

15 March 2024

Software currency

This release provides the following infrastructure upgrades.

VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 3p (23307199)
VMware vCenter Server® Appliance 7.0 Update 3p (01800)
Veeam Backup 12.1.1

User interface updates and enhancements

The user interface is updated and provides the following enhancements.

A Help me choose option is now available on the order page to guide you through the process of ordering a VMware as a Service instance.
The contents of the Summary tabs for both single-tenant and multitenant VDCs are better structured and organized for a more streamlined user experience.

REST API updates

The VMware as a Service API is updated to support enabling or disabling Veeam and VMware Cloud Director Availability (VCDA) on a VMware Cloud Director site. For more information, see the VMware as a Service API change log.

New and updated documentation

The Architecture patterns for integrating IBM Cloud Security and Compliance Center Workload Protection with VMware as a Service technical document is now available.

9 February 2024

IBM Cloud private-only networking: VMware as a Service now offers private-only networks for management connectivity for accessing VMware Cloud Director and workload connectivity for accessing your VMware as a Service workloads. For private-only workload connections, connect VDCs to IBM Cloud Transit Gateway to connect to workloads outside of the private network. For more information, see Network settings.
IBM Cloud Transit Gateway: You can now use Transit Gateway to securely interconnect VMware as a Service multitenant and single-tenant VDCs to a transit gateway to enable network connectivity into your IBM Cloud Classic and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) IaaS infrastructures, and your on-premises locations by using Direct Link connections. For more information, see Using Transit Gateway to interconnect VMware as a Service with IBM Cloud services.
User interface updates and enhancements: The user interface is updated with various message and tooltip enhancements.
REST API updates: The VMware as a Service API is updated to provide support for VMware Cloud Director Availability (VCDA), OpenID Connect (OIDC) configuration, and IBM Cloud Transit Gateway. For more information, see the VMware as a Service API change log.

12 January 2024

Base charge reduction for on-demand multitenant instances

The base charge for VMware as a Service on-demand multitenant instances is adjusted to $0.00 per month. The six public IP addresses are instead included in the efficiency edge charge.

User interface updates and enhancements

The user interface is updated with various message and tooltips that include the following enhancements.

The term provider virtual data center is updated to resource pool throughout the UI, user documentation, and REST APIs.
The Infrastructure tab on the Cloud Director site details page is updated to Resource pool.

New documentation

A new solution tutorial, Creating a VPN between the virtual data center edge gateway and the on-premises VPN gateway, is now available. This tutorial provides the steps to connect a VMware as a Service instance with Juniper® vSRX.

2023

15 December 2023

Cloud-to-cloud migration to VMware as a Service: You can now use cloud-to-cloud connections to migrate IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions Shared instances to VMware as a Service. You can also use cloud-to-cloud connections to migrate workloads from single-tenant and multitenant VMware as a Service instances to another VMware as a Service instance. For more information, see Creating and deleting VMware as a Service pairings.
vSAN host profile updates: The Dual Intel 8260 Xeon host profile (4 Sockets - 96 Cores, 1536 GB RAM) with 61 TB of VMware vSAN usable capacity is now available for Cloud Director sites.
User interface updates and enhancements: The user interface is updated with various message and tooltip enhancements.
New documentation: A number of solution tutorials are now available under the Tutorials section of the VMware as a Service documentation. These tutorials provide step-by-step instructions about using VMware as a Service to implement common patterns based on best practices.

17 November 2023

Migrating virtual machines to VMware as a Service: The VMware Cloud Director Availability (VCDA) service is now available as a cost-effective solution to easily migrate your VMware vCenter Server or on-premises workloads to the VMware as a Service single-tenant consumption model. Use enterprise-level VCDA to migrate virtual machines over a secure public internet connection at no cost. For more information, see VMware Cloud Director Availability for VMware as a Service overview.
User interface updates and enhancements: The user interface is updated with various message and tooltip enhancements.
Documentation updates and enhancements: The table of contents is updated for a more streamlined user experience.

20 October 2023

VMware as a Service Multitenant: This release announces the VMware as a Service Multitenant consumption model. VMware as a Service Multitenant provides a flexible, pay-per-use option to deploy VDCs on an IBM-managed Cloud Director site. You can get started quickly by selecting from on-demand or reserved pricing plans, and then add CPU, RAM, and storage as needed. Additionally, the Veeam Backup service is available for you to install to securely protect and provide a recovery option for your workloads. For more information, see VMware as a Service overview.
REST API updates: The VMware as a Service API is updated to provide support for VMware as a Service Multitenant. For more information, see VMware as a Service API change log.
User interface updates and enhancements: The user interface is updated with various message and tooltip enhancements.

22 September 2023

IBM Cloud data center availability: VMware as a Service expands global presence and now supports the Washington DC region to host your provider virtual data center. For more information, see Planning the deployment.
SAP-certified provider virtual data centers: VMware as a Service now supports SAP® workloads that use the new SAP bare metal server profiles. You can reliably run your mission-critical SAP workloads and scenarios on a scalable, compliant, and enterprise-proven VMware® by Broadcom platform. For more information, see Planning the deployment.
vSAN host profile updates: The Dual Intel 8260 Xeon host profile (2 Sockets - 48 Cores, 768 GB RAM) with 46 TB of vSAN usable capacity is now available for Cloud Director sites.

25 August 2023

User interface updates and enhancements and production refresh: The user interface is updated with various message and tooltip enhancements. Performance and security currency improvements are also included in this refresh.

18 August 2023

Production refresh: Production refresh to deliver defect resolutions, performance improvements, and maintain security currency.

7 July 2023

Veeam Backup availability

The Veeam Backup service is now available by default for deployment with new and existing VMware as a Service instances. Service charges are incurred only if you choose to include the service in your order. For more information, see Managing Veeam for VMware as a Service.

User interface updates and enhancements

The user interface is updated and provides the following enhancements.

The ordering flow for both VMware as a Service single-tenant Cloud Director sites and associated VDCs are now combined into a single ordering page.
The VMware as a Service Resources page now provides two tabbed views. In the first tab, all VDCs in the account are displayed. In the second tab, all authorized Cloud Director sites are displayed with the associated VDCs.
You can now access the VMware console from the virtual data center and Cloud Director site summary pages.
The Add-on services tab is available on instance details pages to easily manage the Veeam Backup service.

2 June 2023

IBM Cloud data center availability: (Updated on 30 June 2023) The Frankfurt region is now available to host your provider virtual data center. For more information, see Planning the deployment.
Accessing VMware as a Service REST APIs: You can now access VMware as a Service APIs through the IBM Cloud Virtual Private Cloud. For more information, see Using a virtual private endpoint.
Fast provisioning for virtual machines: Fast provisioning for virtual machines is now available for your VDCs. For more information, see Adding virtual data centers.
VMware currency: This release provides infrastructure upgrades to VMware NSX-T 4.1 and VMware ESXi 7.0U3L.
User interface updates and enhancements: You can check the prices for VMware as a Service without having to sign in to IBM Cloud. However, you might have limited access to some sections of the ordering pages. To place an order, or for a complete access to the ordering pages, you must log in to IBM Cloud.

5 May 2023

vSAN storage availability: You can now select vSAN storage with optional NFS storage for your instance order in locations with 25 GbE availability. For more information, see Planning the deployment.
REST APIs: REST APIs are now available for all VMware as a Service capabilities. For more information, see VMware as a Service API.
User interface updates and enhancements: The user interface is updated with various message and tooltip enhancements.

7 April 2023

Production refresh: Production refresh to deliver defect resolutions, performance improvements, and maintain security currency.

10 March 2023

Data center support for 25 GbE: You can now select a data center with networking speed of either 10 GbE or 25 GbE.
User interface updates and enhancements: The user interface is updated with various message and tooltip enhancements. Additionally, Dark mode is now enabled.
IBM software currency policy: Documentation is now available describing how IBM® maintains software currency for VMware and third-party software. For more information, see Understanding IBM software currency policy.

10 February 2023

VMware currency: Infrastructure upgrade to VMware NSX-T 4.0 and VMware Cloud Director 10.4.1. This release resolves various issues, includes several deprecations, and introduces new features, such as API tokens and edge static routes.
Multiple clusters support: The limitation of one cluster per provider virtual data center (PVDC) is removed. For more information, see Adding and deleting clusters.
Virtual data centers without edge: You can deploy VDCs without a network edge, which can help you save resources and costs by sharing an existing edge across multiple VDCs. This option is suitable for centralized networking administration and control over many VDCs. For more information, see Adding virtual data centers.

18 January 2023

Multizone support: You can now create PVDCs across three data centers in the region. For more information, see Ordering VMware as a Service instances and Adding and deleting PVDCs.
Add PVDC with new cluster: Adding multiple PVDCs with new clusters is now supported, with a limitation of one cluster per PVDC. For more information, see Adding and deleting PVDCs.
IAM enablement: VMware Cloud Director SSO is enabled with IBM Cloud IAM (Identity and Access Management) for new sites. You can also enable IAM for existing sites. After you integrate your site with IAM, you can use single sign-on to log in to the VMware Cloud Director console from the VMware Solutions console. For more information, see VMware Cloud Director single sign-on with IBM Cloud IAM.

2022

14 November 2022

VMware as a Service released: IBM Cloud for VMware as a Service is released! For more information, see VMware as a Service overview.