Installer bypass reference

Find the property, file and service restart that relaxes a VCF Installer or SDDC Manager check or timeout for a lab, for your exact VCF 9 version, with the commands to undo it.

VCF 9.0, 9.0.1, 9.1 and 9.1.1Runs in your browser

Open the tool

When to use it

You are deploying VCF 9 in a home lab or proof of concept on one or two hosts, 1GbE NICs, uncertified NVMe or switches without jumbo frames, and the Installer's validation stops you.
A lab deployment times out on slow storage while it deploys NSX Manager, an Edge or the VCF management services.
You want an offline depot over plain HTTP before 9.1.1, or the VCF 9.0 Installer to accept hosts from different hardware vendors.

Not for production. These settings turn off hardware compatibility, connectivity and hardware checks that protect supported deployments. Use them only for functional testing, education or a proof of concept.

How it works

Pick your release under Version: 9.0, 9.0.1, 9.1 or 9.1.1 (the default). The tool shows only the checks that exist for that release: 13 on 9.0, 11 on 9.0.1, and 15 on 9.1 and 9.1.1, out of 17. A note says how many apply only to other versions.

The checks are in two sections. Validation bypasses (tagged lab bypass) covers single and dual host deployments, the vSAN ESA HCL check, an HTTP offline depot, the 10GbE NIC speed check, the TEP 1600 MTU check, vMotion, vSAN and NFS connectivity checks, the commissioning ping check, a single-node Avi cluster, lab options in the deployment JSON and hosts from different vendors. Timeout & retry tuning (tagged timeout) raises the retry count and the NSX Manager, NSX Edge, VCF management services and Avi wait times.

Each check card shows one or more terminal blocks. Most append key=value lines to a properties file with echo "…" >> file, then restart the service that reads it: domainmanager, operationsmanager, lcm, or all SDDC Manager services through sddcmanager_restart_services.sh for /home/vcf/feature.properties. Copy + restart copies the lines and the restart together. A few blocks are commands or JSON fields instead, with a plain Copy. Each block ends with Run on:, which tells you where: the Installer appliance at Day 0, SDDC Manager when you add hosts later, an ESX host, or the JSON you upload.

How to undo this lists the commands that reverse the card: a sed -i that deletes each appended line by its key, then each restart once. Where a release has no property for a check, or no longer needs one, the card explains that instead of showing commands. Every card ends with Sources:, William Lam's posts or Broadcom KBs.

Step by step

Pick your exact versionChoose it under Version. Keys and files change between releases, and some checks are native in 9.1.1.
Find the checkType in Filter checks, for example ping or mtu. The filter searches card text and property names, not file paths or restart commands. Expand all and Collapse all open or close the cards.
Read the card's noteIt says what else the release needs, for example a JSON specification instead of the wizard.
Sign in as root on the applianceSSH to the VCF Installer as vcf, then su - to root.
Paste the block, then confirmUse Copy + restart, paste it in the root shell and wait for the service to come back. Run each block where its Run on: line says.
Undo it when you are doneCopy the commands under How to undo this if you want the checks back, for example before you rebuild the lab.

Worked example

A single-host fleet on VCF 9.1

Choose 9.1 and open Single / dual ESX host deployment. The note reads that before 9.1.1 the Installer wizard still enforces the host minimum, so you deploy from a JSON specification or the API, and SDDC Manager also needs the minimum cluster size property. The card has two blocks.

The first, titled feature.properties, runs on the VCF Installer / SDDC Manager appliance:

echo "feature.vcf.vgl-29121.single.host.domain=true" >> /home/vcf/feature.properties
# SDDC Manager service restart
echo 'y' | /opt/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/scripts/cli/sddcmanager_restart_services.sh

The second, titled domainmanager/application-prod.properties, runs on SDDC Manager:

echo "bringup.mgmt.cluster.minimum.size=1" >> /etc/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/application-prod.properties
# domainmanager service restart
systemctl restart domainmanager

How to undo this covers both files:

sed -i '/^feature\.vcf\.vgl-29121\.single\.host\.domain=/d' /home/vcf/feature.properties
sed -i '/^bringup\.mgmt\.cluster\.minimum\.size=/d' /etc/vmware/vcf/domainmanager/application-prod.properties
# SDDC Manager service restart
echo 'y' | /opt/vmware/vcf/operationsmanager/scripts/cli/sddcmanager_restart_services.sh
# domainmanager service restart
systemctl restart domainmanager

Switch to 9.0 and the card has one block with a different key, feature.vcf.internal.single.host.domain=true: 9.0.0 uses the internal key, and vgl-29121 works from 9.0.1.

What it doesn't do

Change your appliance. It shows commands; you run them.
Check what is already in a file. Appending a key that is already set adds a second line, and the undo deletes every line with that key, including one you set yourself.
Undo API calls or JSON fields. The 9.1 HTTP depot setting is an API call and the deployment JSON options are fields in your specification, so those cards have no undo.
List every lab setting. For a single-node Avi cluster on 9.1 and later, William Lam's script sets one more property that the card doesn't show; it points you to the source.
Make the result supported. A deployment that needed these bypasses is not a supported configuration.

Common mistakes

Using sudo echo … >> file. The redirect runs as vcf and fails. Switch to root with su - first.
Creating feature.properties as root and leaving it there. Appending keeps a file's owner, but a file you create belongs to root. Keep it owned by vcf and check with ls -l.
Expecting the wizard to accept one host before 9.1.1. On 9.0, 9.0.1 and 9.1 the flag is not enough in the wizard; deploy from a JSON specification or the API.
Setting only the Day 0 property. Some checks also run when you add hosts later. The 10GbE NIC and vSAN ESA cards have a second block for operationsmanager, marked SDDC Manager, adding hosts (Day N).
Re-applying everything after bring-up. When the Installer becomes SDDC Manager, the default, the properties carry over. Re-apply them only on a separate SDDC Manager appliance or after a reset.

Questions

Do I still need the vSAN ESA HCL bypass on 9.1.1?

No. VCF 9.1.1 has a supported way to skip the check for non-production use. In a JSON specification set datastoreSpec.vsanSpec.esaConfig.skipHclAutoDiskClaim=true, and when you add hosts later, turn off vSAN Managed Disk Claim before adding a host with uncertified NVMe.

Which file is right for the vSAN ESA property on 9.0.1?

Either. KB 408300 names operationsmanager/application.properties, William Lam uses application-prod.properties, and the card notes that both work.

How do I send someone one check?

Click the link icon, Copy link to this check, on the card. The link carries the version and the check, for example ?v=9.0#mixed-vendor, and opens that card on the right release.