VCF on VxRail: vDS Upgrade Behavior in VCF on VxRail Environments

Summary: This article explains the different upgrade behaviors for various types of vSphere Distributed Switches (vDS) during VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) on VxRail upgrade processes.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Instructions

Issue Description

Customers have reported confusion about whether their vSphere Distributed Switches (vDS) is automatically upgraded during VCF or VxRail upgrade processes. The behavior differs depending on how the vDS was created and which management component is responsible for it.

Different vDS creation methods result in different management ownership and upgrade behaviors:

  • vDS created by VxRail Manager during initial deployment 
  • NSX vDS created during initial deployment of VCF on the VxRail system, also treated as Customized vDS for a VxRail cluster
  • Customer-created vDS after VCF/VxRail initiation

Explanation

vDS in VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Upgrades

Customized vDS: vDS created by customers after the initial VCF deployment, and NSX vDS Customized vDS are NOT automatically upgraded during VCF upgrades.
Customer Responsibility: Customers must manually manage the upgrade of these vDS configurations. For detailed VCF upgrade planning, see the VMware Cloud Foundation Lifecycle Management documentation below.

vDS in VxRail Upgrades

VxRail Manager-managed vDS: vDS created during the VxRail Manager build process.
VxRail Manager-managed vDS is automatically upgraded during VxRail upgrade processes. These vDS configurations are managed by VxRail Lifecycle Manager (LCM) and are in the automated upgrade workflow.
Customer Responsibility: No customer action required for vDS created by VxRail Manager


Reference VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Planning Documentation VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.x Upgrade OverviewThis hyperlink is taking you to a website outside of Dell Technologies.

Affected Products

VxRail, VxRail Appliance Series, VxRail G Series Nodes, VxRail E Series Nodes, VxRail E560 VCF, VxRail E560F VCF, VxRail E560N VCF, VxRail G560 VCF, VxRail G560F VCF, VxRail P Series Nodes, VxRail P570 VCF, VxRail P570F VCF, VxRail P580N VCF , VxRail S Series Nodes, VxRail S570 VCF, VxRail V Series Nodes, VxRail V570 VCF, VxRail V570F VCF ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000423028
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 05 مايو 2026
Version:  3
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