VMware is announcing the new release of VMware vRealize Automation 7.5 today! We’re introducing new enhancements to our industry leading cloud automation software, helping IT enable developer productivity.
VMware Cloud Automation
As mentioned in What’s New vRealize Suite 2018, we are focused on empowering IT, giving IT teams the tools they need to deliver on their new mandate to support developers, DevOps admins, SREs, and developer-oriented environments across clouds. vRealize Automation plays a key role in this.
VMware vRealize Automation (vRA) is a key component of the vRealize Suite, enabling Programmable Provisioning and Application Operations. vRA is a cloud automation software that accelerates the delivery of IT services through automation and pre-defined policies, providing high levels of agility and flexibility for developers, while enabling IT teams to maintain governance and control.
What’s New in vRealize Automation 7.5
The new vRealize Automation 7.5 is enhanced to make cloud easier to operate, support broader developer team skills sets and application types, as well as, helping customers embrace a multi-cloud strategy.
Easy to Operate
- Modernized vRealize Automation/vRealize Orchestrator(vRO) UI – In this release, we’re modernizing both the vRA and vRO UIs with the Clarity design to enhance user experience for the self-service consumer. This will provide a common look and feel across the entire vRealize Suite.
The above screenshot shows the new self-service catalog view with single and larger catalog cards. We will also be featuring a new universal search, where users can search between components of a vRA environment, which drastically improves navigation.
- Closed Loop Optimization with vRealize Operations – In Q1 earlier this year, we announced an early stage of this integration between vRA and vRealize Operations. In vRA 7.4 this integration worked for initial placement. In vRA 7.5, vRealize Operations turns on a feature that allows vRealize Operations optimization of workloads on Day 2. The intent is to enable cloud admins to automate not just repetitive tasks, but also the decision making process of where to place workloads as they come in and as their demand changes over time, within the constraints specified by IT Operations teams, such as target utilization levels, target performance SLAs. This will help make private Cloud easier to operate and consume.
- Enterprise-ready ServiceNow plugin – With vRA 7.5, we will be featuring a new version of the ServiceNow plugin that will be ServiceNow certified and will now have enterprise-level support. The plugin enables users to consume vRA catalog items through ServiceNow, based on vRA entitlements and ServiceNow governance. This new plugin features easier plug-in configuration, multi-vRA Support, day 2 Enhancements, and custom Forms Support, providing improved time-to-value, lower TCO, and complete day 2 integration.
- NSX-T On-premises Support – vRA 7.5 will support NSX-T on-premises, enabling next gen network virtualization with NSX-T within vRA. vRA7.5 will be able to support NSX-T constructs, including load balancers, security groups / tags, and on-demand / NAT / routed networks. This allows us to offer more choice to users, offering parity support with NSX–V constructs. Users will get the same level of network automation experience between the two choices.
Built to Support Developers
- Configuration Management with Ansible Tower – Ansible Tower will now be a native endpoint in vRA 7.5. We are adding the ability to integrate Ansible configuration management profiles and playbooks into vRA application deployments. Developers can continue to use Ansible, and IT can automate the application deployment process integrated with Ansible. Customers can purchase a SovLabs plugin to take advantage of this new feature.
- Kubernetes Cluster Management with VMware Pivotal Container Services (PKS) – We are also enhancing our ability to support containers. vRA today provides a unified container management capability, offering choice of container orchestration platforms. In addition to supporting vSphere Integrated Containers (VIC) and traditional Docker hosts, we’re now also adding integration with VMware Pivotal Container Services (PKS), VMware’s Kubernetes-based platform that enables customers to simplify the deployment and operations of containerized applications. By integrating vRA and PKS, customers can take advantage of managing Kubernetes clusters within vRA, the same interface where you can deploy infrastructure.
Helps Embrace Multi-Cloud
- AWS Enhancements – vRA 7.5 is being recertified with VMware Cloud on AWS to make sure VMware Cloud on AWS can continue to be treated as a standard vSphere endpoint, so customers can continue to deliver a true hybrid cloud based IaaS.
- Azure Enhancements – vRA 7.5 will support new constructs including, Azure Managed Disk, Azure Government cloud, and Azure Germany. These enhancements will help IT enable choice of cloud options for developers, while providing one consistent technology, process, and organizational architecture for IT that enables those choices.
- Google Cloud Enhancements – As mentioned earlier in July, we are also collaborating with Google on a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) plug-in, enabling users to start provisioning VMs and storage to GCP, as well as, publishing blueprints that include Google Compute Engine VMs and storage buckets in their self-service catalog.
Learn More
With these enhancements, vRA 7.5 can help IT support broader developer team skills sets and application types, as well as, embrace a multi-cloud strategy. To learn more about cloud automation, visit us online at VMware vRealize Automation. See how you can enable developers to quickly build VM and container-based applications in any cloud with secure and consistent operations.
Additional Resources
- Press Release: VMware Expands its Hybrid Cloud Portfolio with New Security and Developer-Friendly Infrastructure and Operations Management
- Ansible Tower Plug-in for vRealize Automation CM Framework from SovLabs
- PKS 1.2 Extends Enterprise-Grade Capabilities for Multi-Cloud Enterprises
- Introducing the vRealize Automation Plugin for ITSM version 5.0
- What’s New vRealize Operations 7.0
- What’s New vRealize Log Insight 4.7
