This document shows how to enable VM tracking with
vSphere tags
when you create a new user cluster.
Each node in your cluster is a VM. When VM tracking is enabled,
Google Distributed Cloud attaches tags to your cluster worker nodes and
control-plane nodes. You can use the tags to select VMs that belong to a
particular user cluster or node pool.
Each control-plane node is given a tag that specifies the cluster name.
Each worker node is given two tags: one that specifies the cluster name and one
that specifies both the cluster name and the nodepool name.
Before you begin
You can enable VM tracking when you create a new user cluster. You cannot enable
VM tracking by updating an existing cluster.
In the vSphere web client, you can view the VMs that have a particular tag
attached. For example, to view all the VMs in your user cluster, go to
Tags & Custom Attributes. Then select the tag that belongs to
machine.onprem.gke.io/cluster-name and has the same name as your user cluster.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-04-29 UTC."],[[["VM tracking can be enabled when creating a new user cluster to attach tags to cluster worker and control-plane nodes."],["Enabling VM tracking allows for the selection of VMs belonging to a specific user cluster or node pool through the use of tags."],["Each control-plane node receives a tag specifying the cluster name, and each worker node receives two tags: one for the cluster name and another for both the cluster and nodepool name."],["Before enabling VM tracking, you must create specific vSphere categories and grant necessary privileges to the vCenter credentials."],["VMs with attached tags can be viewed in the vSphere web client under `Tags & Custom Attributes`, allowing for easy identification of cluster members."]]],[]]
