Commission VCF ESXi hosts in SDDC Manager – Bulk Import w/ JSON

The process of building out VMware infrastructure in a VMware Cloud Foundation versus traditional vSphere deployments varies. With vSphere it was pretty straightforward to add a host with whichever configuration is with it and depending on the purpose of the host or solution you applied; i.e. vSAN, even with hardware not being on a particular HCL, there are easier ways of bypassing and configuring. With recent 8.0 U3 clusters, I was able to import a custom JSON

From the SDDC Manager Dashboard, click on ‘Commission Hosts’

A prompt containing prerequisites before commissioning a host. Click ‘Proceed’

There is a link to download the JSON template to populate with multiple host entries. For VCF 5.2.1 the max number of ESXi host commission or decommission is 40 per the VMware Configuration Maximums.

A file called ‘sample_bulk_commission.json’ will download and you can begin filling that out with your hosts ready to be commissioned.

The following is an example of mine

Change the type to ‘Import’, then click ‘Browse’ and locate your saved JSON file.

Click ‘Upload;

If the JSON is correct, your hosts should now appear and ready for Validation, Slide the ‘Confirm all Finger Prints’ to enable (green) and then click ‘Validate All’

Ensure all settings are correct for each host.

Monitor the SDDC Manager Tasks. If completed successfully the hosts should now appear under ‘Hosts’ and State as ‘Unassigned’