HowToData Services Manager with VCF Automation

Apr 20, 2026 · 3 min read · VMware DSM VCFA ·

Data Services Manager and VCF Automation

DSM resources can be provisioned through the DSM UI, Kubernetes Operator, and VCF Automation. This post covers the DSM and VCF Automation integration.

Our goal is to provision a PostgreSQL cluster through VCF Automation.

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Prerequisites

VCFA leverages VKS / Supervisor for the DSM integration:

Infrastructure Policies for DSM UI
vSphere Namespaces for VCFA

Thus we need a Supervisor configured on the vSphere Cluster where DSM resources should reside. For that to work we need the DSM Supervisor Service (Database Consumption Operator).

Register DSM Supervisor Service

A Supervisor Service leverages vSphere Pods (CRX Runtime). This service allows the VCFA-DSM extension to consume the Supervisor.

Supervisor Services TechDocs

We need two YAML files for that: Download the package.yaml and values.yaml files. Navigate to https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=vSphere%20Supervisor%20Services.

package.yaml - is the service
values.yaml - is the configuration

values.yaml EXAMPLE

# imagePullSecret can be removed as anonymous image pull is currently supported by the default image repository
imagePullSecret: registry-creds
# imagePullSecretGeneration can be removed as anonymous image pull is currently supported by the default image repository
imagePullSecretGeneration:
  create:
    password: password
    server: artifactory repo url
    username: username
dsm:
  authSecretName: dsm-auth-creds
  authSecretGeneration:
    create:
      endpoint: https://vcf-mgmt-dsm01.vcf.soultec.lab
      user: [email protected]
      password: VMware1!VMware1!
      rootCA: |
        -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
        MIIEWDCCA0CgAwIBAgIGAZzrEACNMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMFkxCzAJBgNVBAYT
        AlVTMQwwCgYDVQQKDANEU00xFTATBgNVBAsMDERTTSBQcm92aWRlcjElMCMGCSqG
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        XO84dp4fz69x2EDD
        -----END CERTIFICATE-----

  isSupervisor: true
consumptionClusterName: vcf-mgmt-cl01-sn01

Registering the service happens via the vSphere UI:

Further information: https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/dsm/data-services-manager/9-0/using-vmware-data-services-manager-with-vmware-cloud-foundation/using-as-a-provider/install-the-dsm-supervisor-service.html

Register VCFA DSM Service

Now we need to connect VCFA to DSM. For that, log in to VCFA as a Provider Admin:

+NEW CONNECTION

And fill out the details (DSM cert can be downloaded via browser):

Create VCFA Policy

Now we create a policy that defines in which vSphere Namespace and VCFA Organization DSM can be consumed:

Also check in vSphere UI if the vSphere Namespace is ready:

Create a DBaaS

Provision a Postgres cluster:

Fill out the details:

Log in to Postgres Cluster

Now the Postgres service is provisioned through VCFA. To connect to the database, use for example pgAdmin:

Within the DSM UI, the database cannot be edited as it was deployed through VCFA and the Kubernetes Consumption Operator.

Conclusion

Setting up DSM with VCFA is quite easy and straightforward. As with everything provisioned via VCFA, you can use the YAML file for the DBaaS in your CI/CD pipeline. If you want to provision DBs from within your K8s guest cluster (and still have the DBs running outside of them), see my post about the DSM Kubernetes Operator: https://ygerber.online/post/dsm-9-k8s/

TechDocs article for DSM with VCFA:

https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/dsm/data-services-manager/9-0/using-vmware-data-services-manager-with-vmware-cloud-foundation/using-as-a-provider.html