---
# source: src/content/solutions/en/vmware/vmware-cloud-foundation/vcf-automation.md
# route:  /en/solutions/vmware/vmware-cloud-foundation/vcf-automation/
title: VCF Automation
tags: [automation, cloud, virtualization]
vendors: [vmware]
summary: Self-service and lifecycle for virtual machines, networks and Kubernetes namespaces. The catalogue with the platform behind it.
photoNeed: "A vSphere or VCF console on a real screen at soulTec: a cluster view, a running task, an inventory tree, so the reader should recognise the UI"
stub: false
draft: false
kind: product
formerly: Aria Automation
editions: [vcf]
addon: false
sourceNote: "Broadcom, VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 and VMware vSphere Foundation 9.1: Feature Comparison & Upgrade Paths, read 2026-08-28"
vendorName: VMware VCF Automation
status: current
practice: The catalogue goes up quickly and the governance behind it does not. Introducing automation without first settling who may order what builds a second shadow IT.
practiceReview: true
---

## What it is

VCF Automation is the self-service layer over the platform: a catalogue people draw virtual
machines, networks or Kubernetes namespaces from, with approval, an expiry date and
teardown. Until VCF 9 it was called Aria Automation.

## When it is worth it

For environments where the same request keeps arriving. A handful of VMs a month does not
justify the build; a development team creating and discarding environments daily does.