vRA - v12n.io

vRA

A collection of 29 posts

Cloudbase-Init with vRealize Automation and vSphere - No CD Drive!

Cloudbase-Init with vRealize Automation and vSphere - No CD Drive!

This article explains how to use Cloudbase-Init with vRealize Automation and vSphere without requiring a CD drive in every Windows VM.

Automating the installation of Cloudbase-Init in Windows templates using Packer

Automating the installation of Cloudbase-Init in Windows templates using Packer

A brief post that provides some PowerShell commands to install Cloudbase-Init in a Windows Server image produced by Packer

Installing Cloudbase-Init on Windows for vRA Customisation

Installing Cloudbase-Init on Windows for vRA Customisation

A brief guide to installing Cloudbase-Init in a VMware vSphere VM template to use with vRealize Automation 8

Cloud-Init with vRealize Automation and vSphere - No CD Drive!

Cloud-Init with vRealize Automation and vSphere - No CD Drive!

This article explains how to use Cloud-Init with vRealize Automation and vSphere without requiring a CD drive in every VM.

Automatic Deployment Names in vRA 8.x

Automatic Deployment Names in vRA 8.x

How to make vRealize Automation (vRA) deployment names unique without having to bother users with entering one

vRealize Automation (vRA) 8.3 GA

vRealize Automation (vRA) 8.3 GA

vRealize Automation 8.3 is out. There are a number of exciting changes included. These are my top picks from them.

Learning SaltStack: a Cloud Template for vRA

Learning SaltStack: a Cloud Template for vRA

Following VMware's acquisition of SaltStack, learn more about Salt. Try this vRA cloud template to deploy a simple Salt environment.

Preparing Vault for integration with vRA

Before vRA / vRO can automate Vault and create high-entropy passwords for new workloads, Vault must be prepared. This post explains the steps taken.

Creating unique passwords in Vault for new vRA workloads

Creating unique passwords in Vault for new vRA workloads

Generate and secure unique complex passwords in HashiCorp Vault for new workloads provisioned by VMware vRealize Automation

Integrating VMware Code Stream and Packer

Integrating VMware Code Stream and Packer

Not content to build vSphere templates periodically, this introduction shows how VMware Code Stream and Packer can be combined to trigger builds from Git updates.

Custom Naming in vRealize Automation 8.x (Pt. 2)

Custom Naming in vRealize Automation 8.x (Pt. 2)

Having created a mechanism to generate unique hostnames previously, this article follows on with how to integrate the functionality with vRA 8.x.

Custom Naming in vRealize Automation 8.x (Pt. 1)

Custom Naming in vRealize Automation 8.x (Pt. 1)

vRA 8.x offers several built-in mechanisms for naming workloads. This article covers them briefly and starts the process to go fully custom.

Installing Ansible Tower on CentOS 8 for testing with vRA 8.1

To try out the new integration with Ansible Tower from vRealize Automation 8.1 I'll need an Ansible Tower server. This is how I installed it on CentOS 8.

vRealize Automation 8.1 released

vRealize Automation 8.1 is released now and there are some great blogs out there describing the new and changed features.

vRA installation failure caused by .NET trust levels in IIS

I've been meaning to post this for about a year. I'm doing it now just in case it's still relevant and useful for anyone. I was working with a customer getting a vRA (7.3.1) PoC environment deployed for them so that they could run some penetration tests against

What's new in vRA 7.6

Today sees the General Availability of vRealize Automation 7.6, VMware's Cloud Management solution. I get excited by new releases as the product is maturing and new features and integrations are added each time. This release is no different. Below are some of the changes you can expect to find.

Addressing errors when using vRA 7.4 Guest Agent

Having upgraded my vRA instance in my HomeLab to 7.4 not long after it GA'd, I recently decided to create some nice, new templates as well. You know, latest patches, hardware, basic config etc. I won't bore you with exactly how I installed Windows, patched it or configured it.

Extensibility course in vRA / vRO (Feb 2018)

A new vRA / vRO Extensibility course is scheduled to be held in the UK in February 2018. It will provide detailed information on how to leverage the power of vRealize Automation and vRealize Orchestrator. I should point out that it's a beta course, so it may not be 100% polished

Automating vSphere VM disk zeroing with vRA7 and vRO

A long time ago, on a project far back in time, the team that I was part of was given a requirement to zero the disks of VMs before they were deleted by vRA / vRO (or vCAC and vCO as they were called back then). One of my colleagues on

How to change the vRA 7.2 "All Services" icon using vRO

This post was inspired by Ryan Kelly's recent post of a similar title in which he revealed how to change the “All Services” icon [http://www.vmtocloud.com/how-to-change-the-vra-7-2-all-services-icon/] in the vRA 7.2 Catalog tab. Shortly after seeing that, I noticed that Ricky El-Qasem had also posted on the

vRealize Automation Extensibility Migration Guide

[http://pubs.vmware.com/vrealize-automation-72/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vrealize_automation_extensibility_migration.pdf?src=vmw_so_vex_mpoor_538] Possibly a little overdue, but valuable all the same, the vRealize Automation Extensibility Migration Guide [http://pubs.vmware.com/vrealize-automation-72/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vrealize_automation_extensibility_migration.

VCAP6-CMA Deploy Exam Launched

Last week the VMware education and certification team released the VCAP6-CMA Deploy exam. This is a lab-based exam intended to test a candidate's knowledge of how to deploy and administer vRealize Automation (also in conjunction with Orchestrator, Business Standard, Application Services and vCloud Air). It's the next tier up from

vRA 7 / vRO 7 REST error (java.security.cert.CertificateException)

Whilst I was with a customer recently, I hit an SSL related issue whilst trying to put together a vRO workflow to orchestrate the creation of a load-balancer configuration on a Citrix Netscaler VPX. Adding the REST host(s) to vRO was accomplished without any issue, but when I came

Changing vRA ExternalWfStubs Timeouts

I saw a question on Twitter this morning that I thought warranted a quick post: [/content/images/wordpress/2015/11/201511324_111120-CapturFiles.png]The default timeout for the various workflow stubs is 30 minutes, but they can be changed. As always, take backup copies and be careful! The six stubs

...Hello VMware!

I've been a user of VMware's products since finding VMware Workstation in the early noughties but things really took off for me in 2007 with ESX3. I've long thought that I might work for VMware one day if the circumstances were right. As of yesterday, it became a reality. This