/Supervisor-Services

vSphere with Tanzu: Supervisor Services

Supervisor Services Catalog

Discover current Supervisor Services offered to support modern applications through vSphere Services. New service will be added overtime with the goal to continue to empower your DevOps communities.

Prior vSphere 8 Update 1, the Supervisor Services are only available with Supervisor Clusters enabled using VMware NSX-T. With vSphere 8 U1, Supervisor Services are also supported when using the vSphere Distributed Switch networking stack.

Supervisor Service vSphere 7 vSphere 8
TKG Service ❌ * ✅
requires vSphere 8.0 Update 3 or later.
Consumption Interface ❌ ✅
vSAN Data Persistence Platform Services - MinIO, Cloudian and Dell ObjectScale ✅ ✅
Backup & Recovery Service - Velero ✅ ✅
Certificate Management Service - cert-manager ❌ ✅
Cloud Native Registry Service - Harbor ❌ * ✅
Kubernetes Ingress Controller Service - Contour ❌ ✅
External DNS Service - ExternalDNS ❌ ✅
* The embedded Harbor Registry and TKG Service features are still available and supported on vSphere 7 and onwards.

TKG Service

VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service (TKG Service) lets you deploy Kubernetes workload clusters on the vSphere IaaS control plane. Starting with vSphere 8.0 Update 3, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid is installed as a Supervisor Service. This architectural change decouples TKG from vSphere IaaS control plane releases and lets you upgrade the TKG Service independent of vCenter Server and Supervisor.

TKG Service Versions

Consumption Interface

Provides the Local Consumption Interface (LCI) for Namespaces within vSphere Client. This also includes the Single Sign On (SSO) component required by the Cloud Consumption Interface (CCI) in Aria Automation within VMware Cloud Foundation.

The minimum required version for using this interface is vSphere 8 Update 3.

Consumption Interface Versions

Installation instructions can be found here in VMware documentation.

NOTE: Occasionally, the plug-in might fail to load on the initial attempt. To check if the plug-in has loaded correctly, click the vSphere Client menu icon, then to Administration -> Client -> Plug-ins. Check the Status column of the Namespace UI plug-in, and in case you see a "Plug-in configuration with Reverse Proxy failed." Message, reinstall the plug-in.

Download latest version:

OSS information

LCI OSS

SSO OSS Refer to the Open Source Tab

vSAN Data Persistence Platform (vDPP) Services:

vSphere with Tanzu offers the vSAN Data Persistence platform. The platform provides a framework that enables third parties to integrate their cloud native service applications with underlying vSphere infrastructure, so that third-party software can run on vSphere with Tanzu optimally.

  • Using vSAN Data Persistence Platform (vDPP) with vSphere with Tanzu documentation
  • Enable Stateful Services in vSphere with Tanzu documentation
  • Available vDPP Services download

Partner Documentation Links:

Backup & Recovery Service

Velero vSphere Operator helps users install Velero and its vSphere plugin on a vSphere with Kubernetes Supervisor cluster. Velero is an open source tool to safely backup and restore, perform disaster recovery, and migrate Kubernetes cluster resources and persistent volumes.

Velero vSphere Operator CLI Versions

This is a prerequisite for a cluster admin install.

Velero Versions

Certificate Management Service

ClusterIssuers are Kubernetes resources that represent certificate authorities (CAs) that are able to generate signed certificates by honoring certificate signing requests. All cert-manager certificates require a referenced issuer that is in a ready condition to attempt to honor the request.

  • Service install - Follow steps 1 - 5 in the documentation then continue to the bullet point below.
  • Read Service Configuration to understand how to install your root CA into the ca-clusterissuer.

CA Cluster Issuer Versions

CA Cluster Issuer Sample values.yaml

Cloud Native Registry Service

Harbor is an open source trusted cloud native registry project that stores, signs, and scans content. Harbor extends the open source Docker Distribution by adding the functionalities usually required by users such as security, identity and management. Having a registry closer to the build and run environment can improve the image transfer efficiency. Harbor supports replication of images between registries, and also offers advanced security features such as user management, access control and activity auditing.

Harbor Versions

Harbor Sample values.yaml

Kubernetes Ingress Controller Service

Contour is an Ingress controller for Kubernetes that works by deploying the Envoy proxy as a reverse proxy and load balancer. Contour supports dynamic configuration updates out of the box while maintaining a lightweight profile.

Contour Versions

Contour Sample values.yaml

External DNS Service

ExternalDNS publishes DNS records for applications to DNS servers, using a declarative, Kubernetes-native interface. This operator connects to your DNS server (not included here). For a list of supported DNS providers and their corresponding configuration settings, see the upstream external-dns project.

  • On Supervisors where Harbor is deployed with Contour, ExternalDNS may be used to publish a DNS hostname for the Harbor service.

ExternalDNS Versions

ExternalDNS data values.yaml

  • Because of the large list of supported DNS providers, we do not supply complete sample configuration values here. If you're deploying ExternalDNS with Harbor and Contour, make sure to include source=contour-httpproxy in the configuration values. An incomplete example of the service configuration is included below. Make sure to setup API access to your DNS server and include authentication details with the service configuration.
deployment:
  args:
  - --source=contour-httpproxy
  - --source=service
  - --log-level=debug

NSX Management Proxy

NSX Management Proxy is for Antrea-NSX adapter in TKG workload cluster to reach NSX manager. We recommend to use NSX Management Proxy when there is isolation between management network and workload network and the workloads running in TKG workload clusters cannot reach NSX manager.

NSX Management Proxy Versions

NSX Management Proxy Sample values.yaml

  • Download latest version: values for v0.1.1. Make sure to fill the property nsxManagers with your NSX Manager IP(s).

Supervisor Services Labs Catalog

Experimental

The following Supervisor Services Labs catalog is only provided for testing and educational purposes. Please do not use these services in a production environment. These services are intended to demonstrate Supervisor Services' capabilities and usability. VMware will strive to provide regular updates to these services. The Labs services have been tested starting from vSphere 8.0. Over time, depending on usage and customer needs, some of these services may be included in the core product.

WARNING - By downloading and using these solutions from the Supervisor Services Labs catalog, you explicitly agree to the conditional use license agreement.

ArgoCD Operator

The Argo CD Operator manages the entire lifecycle of Argo CD and its components. The operator aims to automate the tasks required to operate an Argo CD deployment. Beyond installation, the operator helps automate the process of upgrading, backing up, and restoring as needed and removes the human toil as much as possible. For a detailed description of how to consume the ArgoCD Operator, see the ArgoCD Operator project.

ArgoCD Operator Versions

ArgoCD Operator Sample values.yaml - None

  • We do not provide this package's default values.yaml. This operator requires minimal configurations, and the necessary pods get deployed in the svc-argocd-operator-domain-xxx namespace.

Usage:

External Secrets Operator

External Secrets Operator is a Kubernetes operator that integrates external secret management systems like AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault, Google Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, IBM Cloud Secrets Manager, CyberArk Conjur, etc. The operator reads information from external APIs and automatically injects the values into a Kubernetes Secret. For a detailed description of how to consume External Secrets Operator, visit External Secrets Operator project

External Secrets Operator Versions

External Secrets Operator Sample values.yaml - None

  • We do not provide this package's default values.yaml. This operator requires minimal configurations, and the necessary pods get deployed in the svc-external-secrets-operator-domain-xxx namespace.

Usage:

  • Check out this example on how to access a secret from GCP Secret Manager using External Secrets Operator here

RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator

The RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator provides a consistent and easy way to deploy RabbitMQ clusters to Kubernetes and run them, including "day two" (continuous) operations. RabbitMQ clusters deployed using the Operator can be used by applications running on or outside Kubernetes. For a detailed description of how to consume the RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator, see the RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator project.

RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator Versions

RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator Sample values.yaml -

  • Modify the latest values.yaml by providing a new location for the RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator image. This may be required to overcome DockerHub's rate-limiting issues. The RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator pods and related artifacts get deployed in the svc-rabbitmq-operator-domain-xx namespace.

Usage:

  • Check out this example on how to deploy a RabbitMQ cluster using the RabbitMQ Cluster Kubernetes Operator here
  • For advanced configurations, check the detailed reference.

Redis Operator

A Golang-based Redis operator that oversees Redis standalone/cluster/replication/sentinel mode setup on top of Kubernetes. It can create a Redis cluster setup using best practices. It also provides an in-built monitoring capability using Redis-exporter. For a detailed description of how to consume the Redis Operator, see the Redis Operator project.

Redis Operator Versions

Redis Operator Sample values.yaml -

  • We do not provide this package's default values.yaml. This operator requires minimal configurations, and the necessary pods get deployed in the svc-redis-operator-domain-xxx namespace.

Usage:

  • View an example of how to use the Redis Operator to deploy a Redis standalone instance here
  • For advanced configurations, check the detailed reference.

KEDA

KEDA is a single-purpose and lightweight component that can be added into any Kubernetes cluster. KEDA works alongside standard Kubernetes components like the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler and can extend functionality without overwriting or duplication. With KEDA you can explicitly map the apps you want to use event-driven scale, with other apps continuing to function. This makes KEDA a flexible and safe option to run alongside any number of any other Kubernetes applications or frameworks. For a detailed description of how to use KEDA, see the Keda project.

KEDA Versions

  • Download latest version: KEDA v2.13.1 Note: This version supports Kubernetes v1.27 - v1.29.

KEDA Sample values.yaml -

  • We do not provide this package's default values.yaml. This operator requires minimal configurations, and the necessary pods get deployed in the svc-kedaxxx namespace.

Usage:

  • View an example of how to use KEDA ScaledObject to scale an NGINX deployment here.
  • For additonal examples, check the detailed reference.

Grafana Operator

Grafana Operator is a Kubernetes operator built to help you manage your Grafana instances and its resources from within Kubernetes. The operator can install and manage local Grafana instances, Dashboards and Datasources through Kubernetes Custom resources. The Grafana Operator automatically syncs the Kubernetes Custom resources and the actual resources in the Grafana Instance. For a detailed description of how to use Grafana Operator, see the Grafana Project.

Grafana Operator Versions

Grafana Operator Sample values.yaml -

  • We do not provide this package's default values.yaml. This operator requires minimal configurations, and the necessary pods get deployed in the svc-grafana-operatorxxx namespace.

Usage:

  • View an example of how to use Grafana Operator to create a Grafana instance here.
  • For additonal examples, check the detailed reference.