Doesn’t time fly! It’s been three months since VMware first announced VMware Validated Solutions, use-case driven, fully validated, technical solutions which customers can rapidly implement on VMware Cloud Foundation. From the outset, a core element of each Validated Solutions has been the ability to add incremental value over time without being constrained by a static set of documentation. We also wanted to provide Infrastructure-as-Code to provide better error handling, user experience, and automation improvements. As such, I’m delighted to share with you a number of updates we are making available on November 30, 2021.
Updates for this month focus on adding additional automation across VMware Validated Solutions. On the initial launch, we delivered Infrastructure-as-Code automation on just a couple of the VMware Validated Solutions, namely Identity and Access Management for VMware Cloud Foundation and Developer Ready Infrastructure for VMware Cloud Foundation. Since the launch, and based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback, we are now focusing on adding automation across the board.
General Availability of PowerValidatedSolutions v1.2.0
First up, we are delighted to share the release of PowerValidatedSolutions v1.2.0 (https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/PowerValidatedSolutions/1.2.0), our PowerShell module that we’ve developed to deliver a consistent, robust, and repeatable way of installing and configuring VMware Validated Solutions. Here’s a list of what’s changed (this and previous updates can be tracked by reading the CHANGELOG.md file stored in the Git Hub repository (https://github.com/vmware-samples/power-validated-solutions-for-cloud-foundation):
- Fixed Add-GlobalPermission where an error is thrown when Internet Explorer has not been launched in the operating system.
- Fixed Set-DatastoreTag where it was failing to create a single tag and category when multiple vCenter Servers in the Single Sign-On domain.
- Fixed Add-StoragePolicy where it was failing to add the storage policy when multiple vCenter Servers in the Single Sign-On domain
- Enhanced Move-VMtoFolder cmdlet to check the name of VM provided and skip if it does not exist.
- Enhanced Add-WorkspaceOneDirectory cmdlet so that it can be used with Clustered Workspace ONE Access.
- Enhanced Set-WorkspaceOneSmtpConfig cmdlet to skip the configuration if the SMTP Server configuration is already performed.
- Added Export-vRLIJsonSpec cmdlet to generate the JSON specification file needed to deploy vRealize Log Insight via vRealize Lifecycle Suite Manager.
- Added New-vRLIDeployment cmdlet to deploy vRealize Log Insight via vRealize Lifecycle Suite Manager in VMware Cloud Foundation aware mode.
- Added Add-vRLIAuthenticationWSA cmdlet to support configuring Workspace ONE Access integration with vRealize Log Insight.
- Added Add-WorkspaceOneDirectoryGroup cmdlet to Sync additional Active Directory groups with Workspace ONE Access.
- Added Export-vROPSJsonSpec cmdlet to generate the JSON specification file needed to deploy vRealize Operations Manager via vRealize Lifecycle Suite Manager.
- Added New-vROPSDeployment cmdlet to deploy vRealize Operations Manager via vRealize Lifecycle Suite Manager in VMware Cloud Foundation aware mode.
- Added Export-vRASJsonSpec cmdlet to generate the JSON specification file needed to deploy vRealize Automation via vRealize Lifecycle Suite Manager.
- Added New-vRADeployment cmdlet to deploy vRealize Automation via vRealize Lifecycle Suite Manager in VMware Cloud Foundation aware mode.
- Added Install-vRLIPhotonAgent cmdlet to download, install and configure the vRealize Log Insight Agent on Photon Operating System.
- Added Add-vRLIAgentGroup cmdlet to create an Agent Group in vRealize Log Insight
- Added Register-vRLIWorkloadDomain cmdlet to connect/disconnect a Workload Domain with vRealize Log Insight.
- Added Set-vRLISyslogEdgeCluster cmdlet to configure the Syslog settings for each NSX Edge node within a Workload Domains NSX Edge Cluster.
- Added Add-vRLISmtpConfiguation cmdlet to configure the SMTP Server settings for vRealize Log Insight
- Added Add-vRLILogArchive cmdlet to configure Email Notifications, Retention and Archive Location for vRealize Log Insight
- Added Register-vROPSWorkloadDomain cmdlet to connect/disconnect a Workload Domain with vRealize Operations Manager.
- Added Add-vROPSCurrency cmdlet to configure the currency for vRealize Operations Manager
- Added Add-vROPSGroupRemoteCollectors cmdlet to create a Remote Collector Group and assign the remote collectors in vRealize Operations Manager
- Added Update-vROPSAdapterVcenter cmdlet to update the Remote Collector Group assignment for the vCenter Server Adapter in vRealize Operations Manager
- Added Add-vROPSCredentialNsxt cmdlet to create an NSX credential in vRealize Operations Manager
- Added Add-vROPSAdapterNsxt cmdlet to create an NSX Adapter and Start Collection in vRealize Operations Manager
- Added Undo-vRSLCMLockerPassword cmdlet to remove a password from the vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager Locker.
- Added Undo-vRSLCMLockerCertificate cmdlet to remove a certificate from the vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager Locker.
- Added Undo-vRSLCMLockerLicense cmdlet to remove a license from the vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager Locker.
- Added Undo-VMFolder cmdlet to remove a folder from vCenter Server
- Added Add-vRLIAuthenticationGroup cmdlet to assign vRealize Log Insight roles to Workspace ONE Access Groups.
- Added Sample Scripts in the SampleScripts\iam folder; each script uses the Planning and Preparation Workbook as the input source:
- iamConfigureVsphere.ps1 automates all the configuration of vSphere/SDDC Manager elements for Identity and Access Management for VMware Cloud Foundation.
- iamConfigureWorkspaceOne.ps1 automates all the configuration of Workspace ONE Access elements for Identity and Access Management for VMware Cloud Foundation.
- iamConfigureNsx.ps1 automates all the configuration of the NSX elements for Identity and Access Management for VMware Cloud Foundation.
- Added Sample Scripts in the SampleScripts\ila folder, each script uses the Planning and Preparation Workbook as the input source:
- ilaDeployVrealizeLogInsight.ps1 automates the install and config of vRealize Log Insight for Intelligent Logging and Analytics for VMware Cloud Foundation.
- ilaConfigureVrealizeLogInsight.ps1 automates the integration config of vRealize Log Insight for Intelligent Logging and Analytics for VMware Cloud Foundation.
- Added New-SupervisorClusterCSR cmdlet to create a new certificate signing request for the defined Supervisor Cluster
- Added Add-SupervisorClusterCertificate cmdlet to add a signed TLS certificate for the defined Supervisor Cluster
- Added Add-NamespaceVmClass cmdlet to add an existing VM Class to a Supervisor Namespace
Intelligent Logging and Analytics for VMware Cloud Foundation Updates
Implementation
Focused on adding automation across the implementation procedure.
1. Combined the following two procedures:
- Download and install the vRealize Log Insight Agent on the Clustered Workspace ONE Access Nodes
- Configure the vRealize Log Insight Agent on the Clustered Workspace ONE Access Nodes
Into a single procedure:
- Download, Install and Configure the vRealize Log Insight Agent on the Clustered Workspace ONE Access Nodes
2. Added PowerValidatedSolutions automation to the following procedures:
- Deploy vRealize Log Insight by Using vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager (New-vRLIDeployment)
- Configure SMTP for vRealize Log Insight (New-vRLIDeployment)
- Configure Log Retention and Archiving for vRealize Log Insight (Add-vRLILogArchive)
- Enable Authentication for vRealize Log Insight by Using Workspace ONE Access (Add-vRLIAuthenticationWSA)
- Sync Active Directory Groups to Workspace ONE Access (Add-WorkspaceOneDirectoryGroup)
- Assign vRealize Log Insight Roles to Active Directory Groups (Add-vRLIAuthenticationGroup)
- Connect a VI Workload Domain to vRealize Log Insight (Register-vRLIWorkloadDomain)
- Configure the NSX Edge Nodes to Forward Log Events to vRealize Log Insight (Set-vRLISyslogEdgeCluster)
- Download, Install and Configure the vRealize Log Insight Agent on the Clustered Workspace ONE Access Nodes (Install-vRLIPhotonAgent)
- Configure the vRealize Log Insight Agent Group for the Clustered Workspace ONE Access (Add-vRLIAgentGroup)
- Create a vRealize Log Insight Photon OS Agent Group for the Management Nodes (Add-vRLIAgentGroup)
Intelligent Operations Management for VMware Cloud Foundation Updates
Implementation
Focused on adding automation across the implementation procedure.
1. Added PowerValidatedSolutions automation to the following procedures:
- Deploy vRealize Operations Manager by Using vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager (New-vROPSDeployment)
- Synchronize the Groups for vRealize Operations Manager from the Identity Provider into Workspace ONE Access (Add-WorkspaceOneDirectoryGroup)
- Group the vRealize Operations Manager Remote Collector Nodes (Add-vROPSGroupRemoteCollectorsy)
- Set the Currency for Cost Calculation in vRealize Operations Manager (Add-vROPSCurrency)
- Connect vRealize Operations Manager to the VI Workload Domains in the First VMware Cloud Foundation Instance (Register-vROPSWorkloadDomain)
- Modify the vCenter Server Adapters for the First VMware Cloud Foundation Instance in vRealize Operations Manager (Update-vROPSAdapterVcenter)
- Add NSX-T Data Center Adapters in vRealize Operations Manager (Add-vROPSAdapterNsxt)
Private Cloud Automation for VMware Cloud Foundation Updates
Implementation
Focused on adding automation across the implementation procedure.
- Added PowerValidatedSolutions automation to the following procedures:
- Deploy vRealize Automation by Using vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager (New-vRADeployment)
- Synchronize the Groups for vRealize Automation from the Identity Provider into Workspace ONE Access (Add-WorkspaceOneDirectoryGroup)
Developer Ready Infrastructure for VMware Cloud Foundation Updates
Implementation
Focused on adding automation across the implementation procedure.
1. Added PowerValidatedSolutions automation to the following procedures:
- Replace the Supervisor Cluster Kubernetes API Endpoint Certificate (New-SupervisorClusterCSR and Add-SupervisorClusterCertificate)
- Enable a Virtual Machine Class for the Tanzu Kubernetes Cluster (Add-NamespaceVmClass)
Site Protection and Disaster Recovery for VMware Cloud Foundation Updates
Operational Guidance
Focused on adding automation across the implementation procedure.
1. Added Shutdown and Startup procedures
Navigation Improvements on core.vmware.com
And lastly, based on your feedback, we are making a few adjustments to the navigation experience on core.vmware.com – the home for all VMware Validated Solutions. Here’s a list of what’s new:
- Renamed Quick Links to Solution Quick Links – to remove confusion, we have renamed the Quick Links menu bar to Solution Quick Links, so when looking at a specific solution resource page, there is a difference between this quick link label and the main VMware Validated Solutions landing page.
- Added Quick Link to Update History – each time the documentation for a VMware Validated Solution is updated, what’s changed is tracked in an Update History table within the solution documentation. This new Quick Link will take you directly to this section of the documentation.
