Depending on your assigned user role, your workflow in Tanzu Platform might be extensive or focused. A Tanzu Platform administrator manages resources and does basic curation of applications.

For more information about what tasks the different roles can perform in Tanzu Platform, see the About role-based access control in Tanzu Platform.

In addition to your role, where to start with Tanzu Platform is also determined by the version of Tanzu Platform that you are using, your infrastructure and your overall objective.

Prerequisites

Before you can start performing tasks in Tanzu Platform, certain infrastructure must be in place.

• You have infrastructure in place for one or both of the following runtimes:
  • You have an existing Tanzu Platform for Cloud Foundry installation
  • You have applications and Kubernetes clusters running on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) or elsewhere
• Tanzu Platform Self-Managed is installed and configured. You can install Tanzu Platform in one of two ways, depending on your available infrastructure.
  • To install Tanzu Platform on a Kubernetes cluster, see Install and Run VMware Tanzu Platform Self-Managed in this documentation.
  • To install Tanzu Platform as a Tanzu Operations Manager tile on Tanzu Platform for Cloud Foundry (beta), see Tanzu Platform Tile Installation (beta).
  • To plan your Tanzu Platform Self-Managed deployment, see the Tanzu Platform Self-Managed on vSphere - Dual-Site Reference Design.

What you see on first login

When you log in to the Tanzu Platform UI for the first time, only a limited subset of options are available. Before you and your users can start working in Tanzu Platform, you must perform the initial setup tasks listed in Initial Tanzu Platform setup on day 1 to enable the other options in Tanzu Platform.

Initial Tanzu Platform setup on day 1

As the Tanzu Platform administrator, you must first create Projects. In most cases, you need at least one Project before you can attach Tanzu Platform to your data sources. After you have a project, you can bring users onboard into the platform, and assign those users to the Projects.

After you have created Projects and added users, you must connect Tanzu Platform to your data sources and infrastructure. When you have attached a Cloud Foundry Foundation or VCF instance to Tanzu Platform, or attached other Kubernetes clusters, Tanzu Platform can start discovering the applications and clusters that are running on your infrastructure. This enables the other options in the Tanzu Platform UI. The following sections list what to do depending on what infrastructure you have.

You have applications running on Tanzu Platform for Cloud Foundry foundations

If you have existing Tanzu Platform for Cloud Foundry foundations, you attach the foundations to Tanzu Platform so that you can observe and troubleshoot the foundations and the applications that run on them. This scenario applies to administrators and operators.

You have applications and Kubernetes clusters running on VCF

If you have Tanzu Kubernetes Grid clusters running applications on VCF, you attach your VCF instance to Tanzu Platform so that you can observe and troubleshoot those clusters, and manage and deploy applications on them, directly in the Tanzu Platform UI. This scenario applies to administrators and operators.

The Kubernetes Spaces features are not available in the Tanzu Platform Spring Essentials version of Tanzu Platform.

You have Kubernetes clusters that are not managed by VCF

If you have Kubernetes clusters that are not managed by VCF, you can add them to Tanzu Platform so that you can observe and troubleshoot, and deploy applications on those clusters. These clusters are referred to as self-managed clusters. This scenario applies to administrators and operators.

Other resources

For information about where to find documentation for all of the components of Tanzu Platform, see About Tanzu Platform documentation.