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apiVersion: soultec.ch/v1kind: Solutionmetadata: name: vmware/vsphere-foundation locale: en labels: vendor: VMware vSphere Foundation capability/virtualization: 1.37 capability/cloud: 1.94 vendor/vmware: 0.88 annotations: source: src/content/solutions/en/vmware/vsphere-foundation.md route: /en/solutions/vmware/vsphere-foundation/ schema: /nerd/schema/solutions.json markdown: /en/solutions/vmware/vsphere-foundation.mdspec: title: vSphere Foundation tags: [virtualization, cloud] vendors: [vmware] summary: >- The smaller of the two Broadcom bundles: vSphere with operations tooling, without the full private cloud platform on top. 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: platform acronym: VVF addon: false vendorName: VMware vSphere Foundation status: current practice: >- Draft, not yet reviewed. The question that opens almost every conversation here is not “VVF or VCF”. It is “how many cores does Broadcom actually count for us”. The answer decides the architecture more often than any technical requirement does. practiceReview: true sections: - heading:

What it is

body: | vSphere Foundation, or VVF, is the smaller of the two Broadcom bundles. It carries vSphere, a defined allowance of vSAN and the operations tooling, but not the full platform with NSX and automated lifecycle management. - heading:

What it is for

body: | Estates that want to run virtualization properly and are not building a private cloud. That is most of them. If you already run vSphere with vCenter and need neither network virtualization nor self-service for development teams, this is the right cut. The path to VCF stays open, and it is a licensing change rather than a rebuild. - heading:

What to watch

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Solution · VMware

vSphere Foundation VVF

The vendor calls it: VMware vSphere Foundation

The smaller of the two Broadcom bundles: vSphere with operations tooling, without the full private cloud platform on top.

VMware Pinnacle Partner

Topics Virtualization 1.37 Cloud 1.94

Vendors VMware 0.88

04Services

06Posts

02Capabilities

267Corpus

photograph wantedA 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

What it is

vSphere Foundation, or VVF, is the smaller of the two Broadcom bundles. It carries vSphere, a defined allowance of vSAN and the operations tooling, but not the full platform with NSX and automated lifecycle management.

What it is for

Estates that want to run virtualization properly and are not building a private cloud. That is most of them.

If you already run vSphere with vCenter and need neither network virtualization nor self-service for development teams, this is the right cut. The path to VCF stays open, and it is a licensing change rather than a rebuild.

What to watch

The line between VVF and VCF does not sit where the technology would put it. It sits where Broadcom drew it, and it has moved several times since the acquisition. Check the current position before you build a multi-year plan on it.

What we do with it

Draft, unreviewed

Draft, not yet reviewed. The question that opens almost every conversation here is not “VVF or VCF”. It is “how many cores does Broadcom actually count for us”. The answer decides the architecture more often than any technical requirement does.

This paragraph is a draft and nobody at soulTec has confirmed it yet. Everything above it describes the product and is checkable against the vendor.

Posts about it

VCF full stack from October 2027 – myth or truth?

18 May 2026

A myth that will not go away, and one VMware's competitors are happy to repeat: “from October 2027 a full-stack VCF implementation is mandatory”. It simply is not true.

Cloud 1.94 Virtualization 1.37

Microsoft Secure Boot certificates expire in June 2026

7 May 2026

Microsoft is refreshing the Secure Boot certificates originally issued in 2011, so Windows systems keep verifying trusted boot software. The old ones expire in June 2026.

Cloud 1.94 Virtualization 1.37

VLR Appliance 9.0.4 – HBR-Agent can't be installed

12 Dec 2025

You installed VLR Appliance 9.0.4 and it will not install the Host Based Replication Agent for ESX. If you run a vSAN stretched cluster, there is a workaround.

Cloud 1.94 Virtualization 1.37

Fix NSX to Re-Import ESX into VCF

11 Oct 2025

If you stumble upon this blog chances are you are working on VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x.

Cloud 1.94 Virtualization 1.37

Get Online Depot working in VCF 9

2 Sep 2025

In VMware Cloud Foundation 9 we can configure a Online Depot to get access to the Binaries for the Management as well as the Instance Components.

Cloud 1.94 Virtualization 1.37

DSM 9.0 – MS SQL as a Service

26 Jun 2025

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 brought VMware Data Services Manager (DSM) 9.0 with it. Alongside many improvements, the largest new feature is support for Microsoft SQL Server (tech preview).

Cloud 1.94 Virtualization 1.37