vRealize Automation
Installation Overview
You can install
vRealize Automation to support minimal, proof of concept environments, or in
different sizes of
distributed, enterprise configurations that are capable of handling production
workloads. Installation can be
interactive or silent.
After installation,
you start using vRealize Automation by customizing your setup and configuring
tenants, which provides users
with access to self-service provisioning and life-cycle management of cloud services
New in this vRealize Automation Installation:
If you installed earlier versions of vRealize Automation, be aware of changes in the installation process
for this release.
This release simplifies the vRealize Automation appliance node removal process.
The vRealize Automation appliance administration interface has changed.
Database tab features have moved to the Cluster tab. The Database tab has been removed, and
the Cluster tab has become a primary tab.
The Migration tab has become a primary tab and now includes vRealize Automation and
vRealize Orchestrator migration.
The support bundle option has moved to the Logs tab.
vRealize Code Stream has been removed from the Licensing tab.
The vRealize Automation appliance is a preconfigured Linux virtual appliance. The vRealize Automation
appliance is delivered as an open virtualization file that you deploy on existing virtualized infrastructure
such as vSphere.
The vRealize Automation appliance performs several functions central to vRealize Automation.
- The appliance contains the server that hosts the vRealize Automation product portal, where users log in to access self-service provisioning and management of cloud services.
- The appliance manages single sign-on (SSO) for user authorization and authentication.
- The appliance server hosts a management interface for vRealize Automation appliance settings.
- The appliance includes a preconfigured PostgreSQL database used for internal vRealize Automation appliance operations.
- The appliance includes a preconfigured instance of vRealize Orchestrator. vRealize Automation uses vRealize Orchestrator workflows and actions to extend its capabilities.
- The appliance contains the downloadable Management Agent installer. All Windows servers that make up your vRealize Automation IaaS must install the Management Agent.
In large deployments with redundant appliances, the secondary appliance databases serve as replicas to provide high availability.
The embedded instance of vRealize Orchestrator is now recommended. In older deployments or special cases, however, users might connect vRealize Automation to an external vRealize Orchestrator instead.
The Management Agent registers IaaS Windows servers with the vRealize Automation appliance,
automates the installation and management of IaaS components, and collects support and telemetry
information.
In this blog post we
are going to see the basics steps of vRA 7.5 setup/installation
Deploy the vRealize
Automation Appliance
Before you can take
any of the installation paths, vRealize Automation requires that you deploy at
least one vRealize Automation appliance.
To create the
appliance, you use the vSphere Client to download and deploy a partially
configured virtual machine from a template. You might need to perform the
procedure more than once, if you expect to create an enterprise deployment for
high availability and failover. Such a deployment typically has multiple
vRealize Automation appliances behind a load balancer.
Prerequisites
Log in to the
vSphere Client with an account that has permission to deploy OVF templates to
the inventory.
Download the
vRealize Automation appliance .ovf or .ova file to a location accessible to the
vSphere Client.
Procedure
Select the vSphere
Deploy OVF Template option.
Enter the path to
the vRealize Automation appliance .ovf or .ova file.
Enter an appliance
name and inventory location.
When you deploy
appliances, use a different name for each one, and do not include
non-alphanumeric characters such as underscores ( _ ) in names.
Select the host and
cluster in which the appliance will reside.
Read and accept the
end-user license agreement.
Select the storage
that will host the appliance.
Select a disk
format.
Thick formats
improve performance, and thin formats save storage space.
Format does not
affect appliance disk size. If an appliance needs more space for data, add disk
by using vSphere after deploying.
From
the drop-down menu, select a Destination Network.
Complete the
appliance properties.
Enter and confirm a
root password.
The root account
credentials log you in to the browser-based administration interface hosted by
the appliance, or the appliance operating system command-line console.
Select whether or
not to allow remote SSH connections to the command-line console.
Disabling SSH is
more secure but requires that you access the console directly in vSphere
instead of through a separate terminal client.
For Hostname, enter
the appliance FQDN.
For best results,
enter the FQDN even if using DHCP.
Note:
vRealize Automation
supports DHCP, but static IP addresses are recommended for production
deployments.
In Network
Properties, when using static IP addresses, enter the values for gateway,
netmask, and DNS servers. You must also enter the IP address, FQDN, and domain
for the appliance itself, as shown in the following example.
Review the settings and submit the request
When you submit the request the deployment work flow starts. This workflow firstly deploys the appliance and once the deployment finishes the VM will be powered ON. You can watch the installation/initialisation steps in the console.
The initial setup would take few minutes and VM lands in initial/welcome screen.
Start the wizard by
logging in as root to the vRealize Automation appliance administration
interface.
As you login, the vRealize automation appliance configuration wizard starts,
Accept the license agreement
On the Deployment
Type page, you decide which vRealize Automation components, and how many of
each, you want to install.
Minimal
Minimal deployments
use just one vRealize Automation appliance and one Windows server that hosts
IaaS components. In minimal deployments, you may host the IaaS database on a
separate SQL Server system, or install SQL on the IaaS Windows server.
You cannot convert a
minimal deployment to an enterprise deployment. To scale a deployment up, start
with a small enterprise deployment, and add components to that. Starting with a
minimal deployment is not supported.
Enterprise
Enterprise
deployments involve multiple, separate appliances and Windows hosts, typically
with load balancing. Enterprise deployments also permit you to host the IaaS
database on a separate SQL Server system or on one of the IaaS Windows servers.
When you select an
enterprise deployment, additional Installation Wizard pages appear in the
summary list at the left of the wizard.
Infrastructure as a
Service
The Infrastructure
as a Service (IaaS) option selects whether or not to configure existing Windows
machines with vRealize Automation modeling and provisioning capabilities.
When you select
IaaS, additional Installation Wizard pages appear in the summary list at the
left of the wizard.
IaaS Windows Servers
For a Windows machine to serve as
an IaaS component host, you must download and
install vCAC-IaaSManagementAgent-Setup.msi on the Windows machine.
Management Agent installation requires communication
with a running vRealize Automation appliance. Each time that you
install the Management Agent on Windows, that system becomes uniquely tied to
the specific appliance and deployment.
Potential IaaS Windows servers that have
the correct Management Agent installed appear under Discovered Hosts.
To have the Installation Wizard ignore a discovered
host, click Delete. Deleting a Windows host does not remove its
Management Agent. To uninstall the agent, use the Add or Remove Programs
feature directly in Windows.
Start the agent installation in the windows machine to finish the agent setup
Location to install the agents
Suffice the details of the vRA appliance , credentials to login to the vRA and also the certificate ( if you use custom certs then the host names should match the windows instance)
Service account details of the local windows instance/account
Once the installation finishes, switch back to the vRA 7.5 configuration wizard and look for the agent status.
As above you would be able to see the last sync details of the agent with the vRealize automation appliance.
Proceed with the configuration of Iaas and the DB. Further steps are pretty much easier as like the previous versions and I would cover the screen shots in the next thread.
To be continued ......