VMware 3V0-24.25 - Advanced VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 vSphere Kubernetes Service

In Kubernetes RBAC, cluster-wide permissions are defined withClusterRoleand granted to a user, group, or service account by creating aClusterRoleBinding. The VCF 9.0 documentation for VKS cluster access describes the RBAC workflow used to grant access: first you “define a Role or ClusterRolefor the user or group,” and then you “create a RoleBinding or ClusterRoleBindingfor the user or group and apply it to the cluster.” This wording reflects the RBAC distinction:RoleBindingis scoped to a namespace, whereasClusterRoleBindingis used when the permissions must apply at thecluster scope(cluster-wide resources and/or across namespaces).

VCF 9.0 further illustrates the purpose of ClusterRoleBinding in a token-auth example: it lists the required objects, including “ClusterRole: This defines the access to the Kubernetes cluster” and “ClusterRoleBinding: This binds the created Service Account with the defined ClusterRole.” That binding step is what grants the subject the cluster-level privileges defined in the ClusterRole, makingClusterRoleBindingthe correct object for permissions to cluster-wide resources.

VCF 9.0 describes a vSphere Namespace as the control point where administrators defineresource boundariesfor workloads, explicitly stating that vSphere administrators can create namespaces and “configure them with specified amount ofmemory, CPU, and storage,” and that you can “set limits forCPU, memory, storage” for a namespace. This directly supports stepAas a day-2 control to keep multi-tenant clusters governed and prevent resource contention across different teams and workload types.

For monitoring and optimization, VCF 9.0 explains that day-2 operations include visibility into utilization and operational metrics for VKS clusters, noting that application teams can use day-2 actions and gain insights intoCPU and memory utilizationand advanced metrics (including contention and availability) for VKS clusters. In addition, VCF 9.0 monitoring guidance for VKS clusters states thatTelegraf and Prometheusmust be installed and configured on each VKS cluster before metrics and object details are sent for monitoring, and that VCF Operations supports metrics collection for Kubernetes objects (namespaces, nodes, pods, containers) via Prometheus. Since the Prometheus stack commonly includes Grafana dashboards for visualization, deployingPrometheus + Grafanamatches the required monitoring/optimization outcome inC.

The errors described—specifically the memcache.go failure, the inability to fetch resource lists for Antrea, and the YAML context error—are classic symptoms of aConfiguration Context mismatch. In VCF 9.0, there are two distinct layers of API interaction: theSupervisor Cluster API(used for management tasks like creating clusters) and theGuest Cluster API(used for deploying workloads within the VKS).

When an administrator upgrades a Supervisor, the API endpoint or the available API groups may change. If the administrator attempts to run kubectl commands against a VKS cluster while their kubeconfig context is still pointing to the Supervisor (or vice versa), the client will encounter "mapping values" errors and "unable to handle request" errors because it is sending requests to an endpoint that does not recognize those specific resource definitions (like Antrea stats in the wrong context). To resolve this, the administrator must ensure they have switched to the correct context using kubectl config use-context after the Supervisor update to ensure the local client is communicating with the correct API server and version of the Kubernetes binaries.

Configuration Order (in order):

Verify the name of the original VolumeSnapshot object in the Supervisor.

Create a VolumeSnapshotContent object.

Create a VolumeSnapshot object.

Verify that the VolumeSnapshot is marked with ReadyToUse as true.

Apre-provisioned snapshotworkflow means the snapshot already exists at the Supervisor/storage layer, and you are “importing” it into Kubernetes by creating the Kubernetes objects that reference it. That’s why the first step is toidentify/verify the exact snapshot nameas it exists in the Supervisor context—this is the authoritative identifier you must point to when you create Kubernetes snapshot metadata. Next, you create theVolumeSnapshotContentobject, which represents theactual snapshot on the storage backendand includes the handle/reference to that pre-existing snapshot. With the content object in place, you then create theVolumeSnapshotobject, which is theuser-facing Kubernetes object(namespaced) that binds to the pre-provisioned VolumeSnapshotContent (either explicitly or via binding rules). Finally, you validate the outcome by checking that theVolumeSnapshot shows ReadyToUse: true, confirming the binding succeeded and Kubernetes can use the snapshot for restore/clone workflows.

In VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 and vSphere Supervisor architectures, the decision to deploy aSingle-Zoneor aMulti-ZoneSupervisor is made at the time ofinitial enablement. A Single-Zone Supervisor is tied to a specific vSphere Cluster. A Multi-Zone Supervisor requires a minimum of three vSphere Zones (each mapped to a cluster) to be defined before the Supervisor is deployed so that the Control Plane VMs can be distributed for high availability.

Currently, there is no supported "in-place" migration path to convert a deployed Single-Zone Supervisor into a Multi-Zone Supervisor by simply adding zones later. If an organization requires the high availability provided by a three-zone architecture, the administrator must decommission the existing Single-Zone Supervisor and then re-enable the Supervisor Service using the Multi-Zone configuration wizard. This design ensures that the underlying Kubernetes Control Plane components are correctly instantiated with the necessary quorum and anti-affinity rules that can only be established during the initial "Workload Management" setup phase.

Answer (Correct Order):

Run the install command:velero install … --provider aws --bucket … --plugins … --backup-location-config …

Apply BackupStorageLocation YAML.

Apply VolumeSnapshotLocation YAML.

Run test backup:velero backup create test-backup --include-namespaces "myapp1"

The correct sequence follows Velero’s operational model: install the Velero components first, then define where backups and snapshots are stored, and finally validate with a real backup. In VCF 9.0, the Velero Plugin for vSphere installation command includes parameters for the object-store provider, bucket, and plugin images, which establishes the Velero control plane in the target namespace and prepares it to communicate with an S3-compatible store.

After the installation is in place, you apply theBackupStorageLocationconfiguration so Velero has a durable destination for Kubernetes backup metadata in the object store. This aligns with the VCF 9.0 guidance that backups upload Kubernetes metadata to the object store and require S3-compatible storage for backup/restore workflows.

Next, apply theVolumeSnapshotLocationso Velero knows how and where to create/track volume snapshots for stateful workloads. The VCF 9.0 install example explicitly includes snapshot/backup location configuration parameters, reflecting that both must be set for complete protection.

Finally, run a test backup scoped to the namespace (--include-namespaces=my-namespace) to confirm end-to-end functionality.

cert-manager addresses the operational risk described (manual creation/renewal causing outages) by making certificate lifecycle management anative, declarative Kubernetes workflow. Instead of treating TLS certificates as manually managed files, cert-manager extends the Kubernetes API with custom resources such asCertificate,Issuer, andClusterIssuer, so certificates and their issuing policies become first-class objects that can be version-controlled and automatically reconciled. This directly satisfies the requirement to usetrusted certificates issued through the corporate CA, because an Issuer/ClusterIssuer can represent that corporate CA integration and define how certificate requests are fulfilled. Once configured, cert-manager continuously monitors certificate validity andautomatically renews and rotatescertificates before expiration, then updates the referenced Kubernetes Secrets so Ingress endpoints remain protected without human intervention. In a vSphere Supervisor / VKS environment, VMware also uses cert-manager on the Supervisor for automated certificate rotation in platform integrations (for example, rotating certificates used by monitoring components), reinforcing the model of automated rotation rather than manual certificate handling.

VCF 9.0 design guidance for theSupervisor NSX Load Balancer modelstates that theNSX load balancers run on NSX Edges, and sets explicit sizing requirements at theEdge nodelevel. In the “NSX Load Balancer Design Requirements,” VCF 9.0 requires that theNSX Edge cluster must be deployedbecause “NSX Load Balancers run on NSX Edges.” It further requires that“NSX Edge nodes must be deployed with a minimum of Large form factor”because NSX load balancers havefixed resource allocations on NSX Edge nodes, and the Large form factor is needed to accommodate basic system and workload needs.

This directly ties “deployment size” of the load balancer service capacity to theEdge node form factor(Small/Medium/Large, etc.) rather than the number of pods or the number of clusters. The document also notes that if additional load balancers are required, NSX Edges can bescaled up or out, again reinforcing that sizing is anEdge nodesizing decision.