PowerFlex: vSphere Clustered Services - vCLS VMs

Facts:
vSphere Clustered Services (vCLS) are a new feature introduced as part of the vSphere7.0 Update 1 and later release that helps manage cluster services such as vSphere HA and vSphere DRS. vCLS auto deploys anywhere from 1 to 3 vCLS VMs (depending on the size of the cluster) on each cluster when the VCSA (vCenter server appliance) is upgraded to 7.0 Update 1 or later releases or during a fresh deployment of vSphere 7.0 Update 1 or later releases. 

The vCLS VMs are considered system VMs and are managed by VCSA. No changes or operations should be applied to the vCLS VMs unless directed by Support or explicitly listed as a supported operation in documentation.

Symptoms:
vCLS VMs are created in each cluster when the first host is added to the cluster. Each cluster consists of a maximum of 3 vCLS VMs. In the case of an existing cluster, these VMs are created when the vCSA is upgraded to 7.0 Update 1 or higher. These VMs are created on the local datastore attached to the host. It is important to migrate these VMs to a shared datastore for seamless maintenance and upgrade activity.
 

• PFxM 3.7.x places the service into Life-Cycle mode (LCM) in the case where vCLS VMs are not available on a shared datastore that is created during deployment.

Note: Naming scheme for service datastores are : 

powerflex-Hyperconverged-DKIM-ds-1 and powerflex-Hyperconverged-DKIM-ds-2." 
 

• While performing an upgrade to an existing service, PFxM 3.7.x provides a wizard (Migrate vCLS VMs) to migrate the vCLS VMs to a shared datastore.  The wizard allows you to create two service volumes and two service datastores (powerflex-service-vol-1/powerflex-service-vol-2 and powerflex-Hyperconverged-DKIM-ds-1 and powerflex-Hyperconverged-DKIM-ds-2.") and migrates the vCLS VMs to theses datastores.
   

• While performing any maintenance or upgrade activities, it is important to maintain the vCLS VMs on a service (shared) datastore, otherwise, PFxM places the service into Lifecycle mode.  To switch PFxM to Managed mode on a service, follow the procedure below.

vSphere Clustered Services (vCLS) feature

Use Storage vMotion to move the vCLS VMs to a service (shared) datastore to ensure PFxM functionality remains intact.
 

Option 1:

vSphere - Storage vMotion vCenter Steps
 

1. VMs are visible only through VMs and Templates view or Administration > vCenter Server Extensions > vSphere ESXi Agent Manager>VMs

2. VMs are created under the vCLS folder once the hosts are added to a cluster

3. From VMs and Templates, click the vCLS folder

4. Right-click the VM click the Migrate option

5. On the popup window, click yes

6. Click change storage only

7. For HC and CO nodes, migrate them to a PowerFlex datastore which will be mapped after the PowerFlex deployment.

8. Repeat the above procedure for all vCLS VMs

Option 2:
Migrate the vCLS VMs to a shared (service) datastore using the PFxM Migrate vCLS VMs wizard.

Steps

1. Select the impacted service (HCI/CO) on the Service tab in the PFxM UI

2. From the Service Action tab on the left, click the Migrated vCLS VMs wizard

3. In the popup window, select the storage pool with the existing service volumes and service datastores; if these volumes/datastores do not exist, PFxM can create them for you

4. Click Finish and wait for the activity to complete

5. Repeat the above procedure for all services with vCLS VMs that are on a local datastore

For additional information about vSphere Cluster Services, view VMware KB 80472.