VMware vRealize Orchestrator Cookbook - Second Edition电子书

VMware vRealize Orchestrator Cookbook Second Edition

VMware vRealize Orchestrator Cookbook Second Edition

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

www.PacktPub.com

Why subscribe?

Preface

Changes in this edition

A short history of Orchestrator

Best approaches to reading this book

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Example workflows

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the example code

Downloading the color images of this book

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Installing and Configuring Orchestrator

Introduction

Licensing

vRealize Orchestrator 7 changes

Orchestrator appliance basics

Orchestrator and vRealize Automation (vRA)

Deploying the Orchestrator appliance

Getting ready

How to do it...

Download

Deploy

Log in to the Orchestrator Client

Log into Control Center

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Important Orchestrator settings

Getting ready

How to do it...

Starting, stopping, and restarting the Orchestrator service

Licensing

Package Signing Certificate

Trusted SSL certificates

Force plugins reinstall

How it works...

See also

Configuring an external database

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Sizing

Database roles

Exporting and importing a database

Purging the Database

There's more...

Microsoft SQL

Oracle

Internal PostgreSQL

See also

Configuring external authentication

Getting ready

How to do it...

vSphere (PSC) and vRealize Automation (vRA)

SSO (legacy)

LDAP

How it works...

vRealize Automation and vSphere Authentication

Test login

Internal LDAP

There's more...

See also

Connecting to vCenter

Getting ready

How to do it...

Well, there is that...

How it works...

Access, rights, and logging

Technical user

vRA, Orchestrator, and vCenter

See also

Installing plugins

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Plugin log level

Updating plugins

Disabling and uninstalling plugins

See also

Updating Orchestrator

Getting ready

How to do it...

Using an ISO file

Using the VMware repository

Applying the update

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Moving from Windows to appliance

Getting ready

How to do it...

Migration tool

External database

Package transfer

How it works...

There's more...

Orchestrator Client and 4K display scaling

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

2. Optimizing Orchestrator Configuration

Introduction

Tuning the appliance

Getting ready

How to do it...

Virtual Hardware

Changing the IP and hostname

Setting the time (NTP)

Turning SSH access to Orchestrator on and off

Switching off unneeded services

Root account expires

How it works...

See also

Tuning Java

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

JVM metrics in Control Center

See also

Configuring the Kerberos authentication

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

See also

Configuring access to the local filesystem

Getting ready

How to do it...

Fast and easy

Configuring access

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Configuring the Orchestrator service SSL certificate

Getting ready

How to do it...

Self-signed certificates

Using VMCA generated certificates

CA-signed certificate

How it works...

Default, self-signed, or CA-signed?

VMCA

PEM encoded files

There's more...

Getting the SSL store password

Backing up the default certificates

Creating certificates and requests

Generating certificates with alternative names (SAN certificate)

Signing and importing certificates

See also

Orchestrator log files

Getting ready

How to do it...

Server log in Control Center

Configuring the server log with the Control Center

Accessing the log files via SSH

Changing log file behavior

How it works...

See also

Redirecting Orchestrator logs to an external server

Getting ready

vRealize Log Insight

How to do it...

Syslog with Log4J

Log Insight Agent

How it works...

Configuring the Orchestrator Log Insight Agent to forward to Syslog

There's more...

See also

Backup and recovery

Getting ready

How to do it...

Backing up Orchestrator configuration

Backing up an internal database

Restore

How it works...

External database

There's more...

Cron job

vRO policy

vRO Control Center API

See also

Control Center titbits

Getting ready

How to do it...

Inspecting workflows

System properties

Changing the Control Center user name

File System Browser

How it works...

Control Center API

System properties

There's more...

See also

3. Distributed Design

Introduction

Cluster design

Distributed design

Geographically Distributed

Logically Distributed

Scaling out

Central management

Building an Orchestrator cluster

Getting ready

How to do it...

Preparation work

Configuring the first node of the cluster

Configure cluster settings

Join a node to the cluster

Configuring an Orchestrator cluster in vSphere

Playing with the cluster

Push configuration

How it works...

SSL Certificates in vRO7.1.0

Cluster and Orchestrator Client

Changing cluster content

Changing cluster settings

Removing a node from the cluster

There's more...

Logs

Another method of load-balancing

Example workflow - cluster test

See also

Load-balancing Orchestrator

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating a new NSX Edge

Configuring the load-balancer

Dealing with SSL certificates

Monitors - health checks

Configure pools

Virtual server

Done

How it works...

SSL certificates and load-balancing

SSL passthrough

SSL SAN (SSL passthrough)

SSL offload

Load-balanced Orchestrator cluster with vSphere Web Client

See also

Upgrading a cluster

Getting ready

How to do it...

Minor upgrades

Major upgrades

How it works...

See also

Managing remote Orchestrators

Getting ready

How to do it...

Adding an Orchestrator server

Creating proxy workflows

Managing packets on the remote Orchestrator

How it works...

See also

Synchronizing Orchestrator elements between Orchestrator servers

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

See also

4. Programming Skills

Introduction

The Orchestrator icons

Gotcha

Auto-setup of parameters

Version control

Getting ready

How to do it...

Showing differences between versions

Reverting to an older version

How it works...

See also

Changing elements in a workflow

Getting ready

How to do it...

Changing the parameters of workflows and actions

Renaming and moving actions

Finding related elements

How it works...

See also

Importing and exporting Orchestrator elements

Getting ready

How to do it...

Exporting an object

Importing an element

How it works...

See also

Working with packages

Getting ready

How to do it...

Create a new package

Export a package

Import a package

Deleting a package

Import from remote

How it works...

Export and import options

There's more...

See also

Workflow auto documentation

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Resuming failed workflows

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Using the workflow debugging function

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Undelete workflows and actions

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Scheduling workflows

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Sync presentation settings

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Locking elements

Getting ready

How to do it...

Locking workflows

Unlocking workflows

How it works...

See also

5. Visual Programming

Introduction

Variables (general, inputs, and outputs)

Variables in the general section

Variables in the input section

Variables in the output section

Variable types

Working with a schema

Presentation

Scripting with logs

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating logs

Checking log files

How it works...

Log file location

Altering log elements

See also

Scripting with decisions

Getting ready

How to do it...

Basic decision

Custom decisions

Decision activity

The Switch element

How it works...

JavaScript - if and else

JavaScript - Switch

See also

Error handling in workflows

Getting ready

How to do it...

Default error handler

How it works...

Ignoring errors

The handle error element

See also

Scripting with loops

Getting ready

How to do it...

The decision loop

The Foreach loop

How it works...

Types of decision loops

Foreach and arrays

JavaScript

There's more...

See also

Workflow presentations

Getting ready

How to do it...

Preparation

Description

In-parameter properties

Steps and groups

Hiding input values

Basic linking

How it works...

General properties

Plugin-specific properties

select value as

show in inventory

Specify a root object to be shown in the chooser

Authorized only

There's more...

See also

Linking actions in presentations

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

See also

Changing credentials during runtime

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

See also

6. Advanced Programming

Introduction

Cool stuff in the scripting tasks

A - show all objects

B - find stuff

C - line and character

JavaScript (the very basics)

JavaScript tricks and tips

Is a string part of another string? (indexOf)

Case sensitivity (toUpperCase)

Getting rid of extra space (trim)

String replacement with regular expressions (replace)

Check a variable for type (instanceof)

Working with dates

Add minutes to a date

JavaScript complex variables

Getting ready

How to do it...

Arrays

Properties

Objects

How it works...

Array methods

Properties within properties

Array of properties

See also

Working with JSON

Getting ready

How to do it...

Parsing JSON REST returns

Creating a JSON object

Change JSON object

How it works...

See also

JavaScript special statements

Getting ready

How to do it...

The try, catch, and finally statement

The function statement

How it works...

See also

Turning strings into objects

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Working with the API

Getting ready

How to do it...

Searching for items in the API

Programming help from the API

How it works...

See also

Creating actions

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating a new action

Implementing an action into a workflow

How it works...

See also

Waiting tasks

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating a help task

Using the Sleep task

Waiting for a date

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Sending and waiting for custom events

Getting ready

How to do it...

Receiving a custom event

Sending a custom event

Trying it out

How it works...

External events

See also

Using asynchronous workflows

Getting ready

How to do it...

The first example

The second example

How it works...

See also

Scripting with workflow tokens

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

See also

Working with user interactions

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating the workflow

Answering the user interaction

How it works...

There's more...

Answering using vRealize Automation

See also

7. Interacting with Orchestrator

Introduction

User management

Getting ready

How to do it...

Giving non-administrative users access to Orchestrator

Configuring access to Orchestrator elements

How it works...

Same user - two groups

Edit user rights

Right inheritance

Rights for sub-elements

Visibility

Access right

There's more...

The login format

Typical error messages

Disabling non-administrative access to Orchestrator

User preferences

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

General

Workflow

Inventory

Script editor

Using Orchestrator though the vSphere Web Client

Getting ready

How to do it...

Configure workflows for the vSphere Web Client

Run workflows

Writing workflows for web integration

Passing information along

How it works...

Orchestrator presentation properties in vSphere Web Client

There's more...

See also

Accessing Orchestrator REST API

Getting ready

How to do it...

Accessing the API documentation and enable "play mode"

Try it out!

Interactive REST request

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Accessing the Control Center via the REST plugin

Getting ready

How to do it…

Explore the Control Center API

Adding start and stop calls

Usage

How it works...

See also

Running Orchestrator workflows using PowerShell

Getting ready

How to do it...

Run a workflow

Run a script with input

Getting the output of a workflow

How it works...

Variables

JSON return

There's more...

See also

Using PHP to access the REST API

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

See also

8. Better Workflows and Optimized Working

Introduction

Working with resources

Getting ready

How to do it...

Adding resources manually

Using resources in workflows

Creating a new resource element

Create a resource by uploading a file

Updating a resource

How it works...

There's more...

Accessing resources directly

Deleting a resource

See also

Working with configurations

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating a configuration

Using a configuration in a workflow

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Working with Orchestrator tags

Getting ready

How to do it...

Tagging an element (manual)

Tagging a workflow (workflow)

Viewing all tags in a workflow

Finding workflows by tag

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Using the Locking System

Getting ready

How to do it...

Create a lock

Check for lock

Unlock

How it works...

See also

Language packs (localization)

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Working with policies

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Policy templates

Triggers

The event variable

See also

9. Essential Plugins

Introduction

Working with e-mail

Getting ready

How to do it...

Configuring the e-mail connection

Sending e-mails

Receiving e-mails

How it works...

Working with attachments

There's more...

See also

File operations

Getting ready

How to do it...

Writing a file

Reading a file

Getting information on files

Creating, renaming, and deleting a file or directory

How it works...

Executing scripts

Shared directories

There's more...

CSV files

Doing things as root

See also

Working with SSH

Getting ready

How to do it...

Using SSH

Using SSL key authentication

Using SCP

How it works...

See also

Working with REST

Getting ready

How to do it...

Connecting to a REST host

Using GET

Using POST

Creating a workflow from a REST operation

Phrasing the return value

Using the Swagger spec URL

How it works...

Authentications

Working with the results of a REST request

Default content type

See also

10. Built-in Plugins

Introduction

Dealing with return values

Shared or Per User Session

Working with XML

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating an XML document

Parsing XML structures

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Working with SQL (JDBC)

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating a JDBC connection URL

Connecting to and disconnecting from a database using JDBC

Executing an SQL statement using JDBC

SQL queries using JDBC

How it works...

The difference between the prepare and create statements

Creating a new database in the appliance's PostgreSQL

See also

Working with SQL (SQL plugin)

Getting ready

How to do it...

Add an SQL DB to Orchestrator

Run SQL statement

Run an SQL query

How it works...

See also

Working with PowerShell

Getting ready

How to do it...

Preparing the Windows host with WinRM

Adding a PowerShell host

Using Kerberos authentication

Executing a script

Calling a script that is stored on the PowerShell host

Sending a script to be executed to the PowerShell host

Generating an action and workflow from a script

How it works...

Workflow TLC

Basic versus Kerberos authentication

PowerShell output to XML

See also

Working with SOAP

Getting ready

How to do it...

Adding a new SOAP client

Invoking a SOAP request

Generating a new SOAP workflow

How it works...

See also

Working with Active Directory

Getting ready

How to do it...

Preparing AD for SSL

Registering AD with Orchestrator

Working with AD

How it works...

See also

Working with SNMP

Getting ready

How to do it...

Configuring SNMP devices

Sending a GET query to an ESXi host

Configuring a vCenter alarm to send an SNMP message

Receiving an SNMP message from vCenter

Using policies to trap SNMP messages

How it works...

OID and MIB

Working with SNMP return data

SNMP - port 162 versus port 4000

There's more...

Configuring SNMP for vCenter

Configuring ESXi servers for SNMP

See also

Working with AMQP

Getting ready

How to do it...

Adding an AMQP host

Defining exchanges, queues, and binds

Sending messages

Receiving messages

Subscribing to a queue

Using a policy as trigger

How it works...

There's more...

Installing RabbitMQ

See also

11. Additional Plugins

Introduction

Installing plugins

Obtaining plugins

VMware core plugins

vRO/vCO Team

VMware Solution Exchange

NSX integration

Getting ready

How to do it...

Configuring an endpoint

Creating a new logical switch

How it works...

vRealize Automation integration

See also

Horizon integration

Getting ready

How to do it...

Basic setup

Examples

Access point configuration

How it works...

There's more...

Integration into vSphere Web Client

VRA integration

See also

vSphere Replication

Getting ready

How to do it...

Registering sites

Setting up a replication

Recovery

How it works...

There's more...

Using vCloud Air for recovery

Integration into vSphere Web Client

See also

SRM (Site Recovery Manager) integration

Getting ready

How to do it...

Preparation

Configuration

Working with the plugin

How it works...

There's more...

vSphere Web Client integration

vRealize Automation integration

See also

vROps (vRealize Operations Manager) integration

Getting ready

How to do it...

Deploy

Working with the plugin

How it works...

There's more...

12. Working with vSphere

Introduction

vSphere automation

The vCenter MoRef

The vim3WaitTaskEnd action

Other vCenter wait actions

Things to try...

vAPI

Linked Cloning

vSAN

Working with the vCenter API (to change a VM's HA settings)

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

See also

Standard vSwitch and Distributed Switch ports

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating an action

Creating the workflow

Making it work with presentation

How it works...

See also

Getting started with vAPI

Getting ready

How to do it...

Configuring vCenter endpoint and metadata

Exploring the content

How it works...

See also

Custom Attributes and Tags (vAPI)

Getting ready

How to do it...

Custom Attributes

vSphere Tags

The Notes field

How it works...

Custom Attributes

vAPI tagging

See also

Executing a program inside a VM

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating a waiting workflow

Creating an installation workflow

An example run

How it works...

There's more...

See also

An approval process for VM provisioning

Getting ready

How to do it...

Using User interaction

Using e-mail

Using a web page

How it works...

13. Working with vRealize Automation

Introduction

How the integration of vRA and Orchestrator works

Installation

Read more...

Working with the vRA-integrated Orchestrator

Getting ready

How to do it...

Accessing the vRA-integrated Orchestrator Client

Starting the vRA-integrated Orchestrator Control Center

Tuning vRA

How it works...

Users

Database

Automating a vRA instance in Orchestrator

Getting ready

How to do it...

Preparation

Example

How it works...

Configuring an external Orchestrator in vRA

Getting ready

How to do it...

Building and configuring an external Orchestrator

Configuring a general default external Orchestrator

Configuring an external Orchestrator for each Tenant

Connecting the external Orchestrator

How it works...

Authentication

There's more...

Adding Orchestrator as an infrastructure endpoint

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

There's more...

Adding an Orchestrator endpoint

Getting ready

How to do it...

How it works...

Integrating Orchestrator workflows as XaaS Blueprints

Getting ready

How to do it...

Activating the XaaS tab

Adding a XaaS Blueprint

Publishing and adding the workflow to the catalog

How it works...

Orchestrator presentation properties in vRA

Managing AD users with vRA

Getting ready

How to do it...

Creating a custom resource

Creating the service Blueprint

Creating a resource action

Conducting a test run

How it works...

Using the Event Manager to start workflows

Getting ready

How to do it...

Create a workflow

Seting up the Blueprint

Subscribing to an event

Try it out

How it works...

There's more...