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Installing the VCFA VKS Cluster Provider Plugin#

This guide will help you install and set up the VCFA VKS cluster provider plugin.

Prerequisites#

  1. A working Backstage instance
  2. The Backstage Kubernetes plugin installed and configured
  3. Access to a VCF Automation (VCFA) instance running version 9.x (all-apps organization type)
  4. VCFA user credentials with sufficient permissions to read supervisor resources and proxy API access

Important: Backstage currently supports only one custom cluster supplier at a time. If you are also using the SpectroCloud Cluster Provider, only one of the two plugins can be enabled in your Backstage instance at a time.

Installation Steps#

1. Add Required Package#

yarn --cwd packages/backend add @terasky/backstage-plugin-vcfa-vks-cluster-provider

2. Add to Backend#

Modify packages/backend/src/index.ts:

backend.add(import('@terasky/backstage-plugin-vcfa-vks-cluster-provider'));

3. Configure VCFA#

Add to your app-config.yaml:

vcfaVks:
  instances:
    - baseUrl: https://vcfa.example.com
      orgName: vcfa
      authentication:
        username: ${VCFA_USERNAME}
        password: ${VCFA_PASSWORD}

Verification#

After installation:

  1. Check backend logs for cluster discovery messages
  2. Navigate to a component with Kubernetes resources
  3. Verify VCFA VKS clusters appear in the Kubernetes tab

Testing#

Look for log messages like:

Found X VKS cluster(s) in VCFA
VKS cluster refresh complete: X/X cluster(s) configured
✓ my-cluster (Service Account)

Troubleshooting#

Common Issues#

  1. No Clusters Found
  2. Verify VCFA credentials and orgName
  3. Ensure the VCFA user has access to supervisor resources and the proxy API
  4. Check that supervisor namespaces exist and have VKS clusters deployed

  5. Review backend logs for authentication errors

  6. Kubeconfig Fetch Failures

  7. Verify the VCFA user has proxy API read access
  8. Check that the kubeconfig secret ({clusterName}-kubeconfig) exists in the supervisor namespace

  9. Review backend logs for HTTP status errors

  10. RBAC Setup Failures

  11. Verify the kubeconfig obtained from VCFA grants admin access to the VKS cluster
  12. Check cluster network connectivity from the Backstage backend
  13. Review backend logs for Kubernetes API errors

Next Steps#

  1. Configure advanced options such as custom RBAC rules
  2. Set up multiple VCFA instances
  3. Adjust the refresh interval to match your needs