I wanted to keep track of what needs to be done prior to actually being able to query API on vRA 8. Ive been having a hard time finding the documentation i needed in the past. If you are looking for the Cloud version it can be found here
First step is to get an API token for the specific username. We can do this by using curl or postman. The call would look similar:
curl --location -k --request POST 'https://vra_url/csp/gateway/am/api/login?access_token' --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --data-raw '{
"username": "username",
"password": "password",
"domain": "domain name or system domain"
}'
I recently ran into a problem where i needed to route the subnet that is being used for the docker routing on the vROPS Cloud Proxy appliance. The network used is 172.17.0.0/16. For this we will try to route a portion of that subnet through my ethernet interface
To test the configuration out without adding a persistent route i used the following command:
ip route add 172.17.11.0/24 via 172.16.11.1 dev eth0
Verify that everything is running properly, if anything went wrong the route should get reverted on the next reboot. If the changes are successful we can add the route as persistent by editing the network configuration using vi:
In this guide i will go over the steps of getting an existing 8.x vRSLCM appliance to support the latest product releases available. Here is a great blog that goes in to the details about what the Product Support Pack is https://blogs.vmware.com/management/2019/01/vrslcm-pspak.html. Typically the newer Product Support Pack is included part of the upgrade for LCM, however sometimes there are product releases in between releases where product support packs come in handy.
The first step is to log in to vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager under the Lifecycle Operations section
Go to settings -> Product Support Pack
We can see that i recently upgraded to 8.6 however a new update is available 8.6.0.1. Based on what we can see in the details the new support pack adds support for vRA 8.6.1. If an update is not available click on the Check Support Packs Online button and refresh the screen within a few minutes
Click on Apply Version
Verify that a snapshot or a backup exists and click Submit
We can view the progress by clicking on the Click Here link after submitting the request
Once the process is complete the system will most likely reboot. To check the status we can go back to settings -> Product Support Pack. As we can see we are now at the updated patch level
If you get the below error clear the browser cache and try again
In this guide we will go over Deploying the vROPS cloud proxy for cloud as well as on premise. The official VMware documentation can be found here
To get started log in to your vROPS instance. If its cloud it would be something similar to https://www.mgmt.cloud.vmware.com/vrops-cloud/ui/index.action For on premise it would be https://vrops_url/ui/login.action
Once you are logged on We can go to Data Sources -> Cloud Proxies and press on New. example:
Here we can see the download cloud proxy OVA option as well as a copy button. We can also see the OTK key. Keep a note of this as we will need it during the deployment. The first step is do get the proxy deployed. by either downloading the OVA or by copying the url. In my case i will copy the URL.
For reference you should be at this screen:
Click on the clipboard icon to copy the path to the ova
Next we will go to our vCenter to get it deployed. Go to one of the hosts or clusters, then go to actions -> Deploy OVF Template… example:
If you are deploying the cloud proxy for vROPS cloud the URL will look similar to this:
If its for on premise it would look similar to this:
Click on next and accept the certificate thumbprint
Select a name and location where the deployment should go and click on Next
Select a compute resource and click on Next
Review the details of the deployment and click on next
Accept the licensing agreement and click on next
Select a size and click next. If the environment is larger than 8k VMs you would want to deploy the Standard size. The sizing guide can be found here
Select a storage device and click on Next
Select a network and click on Next
Here is where we would add that OTK key from earlier. Paste in the OTK key. Give the VM a friendly name (this name will be what`s displayed in vROPS cloud proxies page. The network Proxy Settings are only applicable if you need to use a proxy to get out to the internet. The rest of the fields should be pretty self explanatory
Verify everything is correct and click on finish
Once the deployment is complete power on the machine. At this time we need to wait for a couple of minutes before it appears under the cloud proxies. It took about 20 minutes in my environment before i was able to see it in the vROPS cloud console
We can check the console while we wait for everything to be provisioned
Once the deployment is complete the console would look similar to this:
We can also see the proxy coming online in the vROPS cloud proxies menu
Once complete the proxy will show as online
The full vROPS cloud documentation can be found here
The full vROPS on premise documentation can be found here
