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Upgrading VMware Aria Automation Config to 8.16.2

In this post i will go over upgrading my 8.x SSC appliance to 8.16.2. As a pre requirement we do need to have VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle upgraded to 8.16. Instructions can be found here. The upgrade does not include the latest PSPACK that contains the 8.16.2 Aria Automation Config release. Instructions to get the PSPACK can be found on my other blog post here.

To get started we can go to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> Binary Mapping. (If you haven’t added your My VMware credentials you will need to do that first by going to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> My VMware)

Click on Add Binaries under Product Binaries

Select My VMware and click on Discover

We can see a list of binaries that have been discovered. We can select what we need and click on Add

This will create a request and start downloading the package. To view the progress we can click on the Click Here hyperlink

Click on the in Progress button to view the details

We now have to wait for the download to complete

After the download is complete we can go to Environments -> View Details on the environment that includes the VMware Aria Automation Config

Under VMware Automation Config tab Click on Upgrade

An Inventory sync is recommended if the environment has changed since Aria Suite Lifecycle performed the last sync. We trigger the sync from the UI or click on Proceed to continue

Select product Version 8.16.2 and click Next. We can also review the compatibility matrix to make sure the environment is compatible.

We can automatically create and delete a snapshot part of the upgrade process

Run the Precheck to make sure there are no errors

Once the check is complete, click on Next. Review the upgrade details and click on Next. We are taken to the progress screen where we can follow the progress.

The system will get rebooted and once its back up we will be on 8.16.2

Here are a few additional blogs that might be useful post upgrade:

Error Code: LCMVSSC10018

SSC 8.8 sseapi_rpc_queue: could not connect to SSE server

SSC 8.8 urllib3 (1.25.11) or chardet (4.0.0) doesn’t match a supported version

Authentication failed: no Authorization header

Upgrading VMware Aria Automation to 8.16.2

In this post i will go over upgrading my 8.x vRA appliance to 8.16.2. As a pre requirement we do need to have VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle upgraded to 8.16. Instructions can be found here. The upgrade does not include the latest PSPACK that contains the 8.16.2 VMware Aria Automation release. Instructions to get the PSPACK can be found on my other blog post here.

To get started we can go to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> Binary Mapping. (If you haven’t added your My VMware credentials you will need to do that first by going to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> My VMware)

Click on Add Binaries under Product Binaries

Select My VMware and click on Discover

We can see a list of binaries that have been discovered. We can select what we need and click on Add

This will create a request and start downloading the package. To view the progress we can click on the Click Here hyperlink

Click on the in Progress button to view the details ex:

We now have to wait for the download to complete

After the download is complete we can go to Environments -> View Details on the environment that includes vRA

Click on Upgrade

An Inventory sync is recommended if the environment has changed since LCM performed the last sync. We trigger the sync from the UI or click on Proceed to continue

Select product Version 8.16.2 and click Next. We can also review the compatibility matrix to make sure the environment is compatible.

A new feature that was added was the capability to automatically create a snapshot prior to the upgrade and remove it after the upgrade. On this screen we also have the ability to chose if we want to keep the snapshots post upgrade for validation testing for example. Click next

Run the Precheck to make sure there are no errors

The next screen remind us of hardware requirements for vRA which can be checked here and vIDM which can be checked here. As far as i can tell they haven’t changed since the 8.3 release. Check the I took care of the manual steps above and am ready to proceed check mark and click on Run Precheck

Once the check is complete we can review the checks that were performed and we can continue by clicking Next.

Review the upgrade details and click on Submit. We are taken to the progress screen where we can follow the progress.

The system will get rebooted and once its back up we will be on 8.16.2

Since we are doing a major upgrade i strongly recommend to clean the cache before using the new vRA version.

VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Product Support Pack (PSPAK) Upgrade

In this guide i will go over the steps of getting an existing 8.x VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle (formerly vRSLCM vRealize Lifecycle Manager) 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 8.16.0.0 however a new update is available 8.16.0.1. Based on what we can see in the details the new support pack adds support for the Aria 8.16.2 products. 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 an error when logging in, clear the browser cache and try again

VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle upgrade to 8.16

In this guide i will go over the steps of getting an existing 8.x vRSLCM appliance upgraded to the latest 8.16 release. The release notes can be found here. We can upgrade from vRealize Lifecycle Manager to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle.

The first step is to log in to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle under the Lifecycle Operations section

Go to Settings -> System Upgrade

Click on Check for Upgrade

We can see that the check found a new version available for 8.16. Click on Upgrade

Verify that a snapshot or backup exists in case the process fails. Check the check mark for I took a snapshot of the vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager before I performed this operation. Click Next

Click on Run Precheck, verify that all check have passed, and click on Upgrade

This will fire up the upgrade process and start upgrading packages. The system will automatically reboot on 8.16 once completed. We can check the version by going to Settings -> System Details

Don’t forget to clear the browser cache in order to avoid any caching issues.

Downloading specific VCF bundles via CLI

I wanted to reuse my VCF downloaded bundles on another SDDC Manager system so that i wont have to download it from internet again. I found an easy guide here in the VMware documentation. My goal was to download the specific bundle once and upload it on other SDDC Managers.

The first command from SDDC manager was to list the bundles. The lcm bundle transfer utility can be found in /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-tools/bin

./lcm-bundle-transfer-util -du ${depotUser} -l -p ${product_version}

I replaced the ${depotUser} with my vmware email address and ${product_version} with the version of the VCF product i wanted to install in my case 5.0.0.0. I was greeted with a list of bundle IDs and the specific component that it was for:

Enter Myvmware user password:
Validating the depot user credentials...

Bundle         Product  Bundle Size  Components
               Version  (in MB)
bundle-80035   5.0.0.0  599.5 MB     ESX_HOST-8.0.1-21813344
bundle-80031   5.0.0.0  10089.9 MB   NSX_T_MANAGER-4.1.0.2.0-21761691
bundle-80029   5.0.0.0  2044.7 MB    SDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.0.0.0-21822418
bundle-80030   5.0.0.0  251.3 MB     SDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.0.0.0-21822418
bundle-80033   5.0.0.0  9867.6 MB    VCENTER-8.0.1.00100-21815093

In my case i need the installer. To download a specific bundle we run

./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --download --outputDirectory ${absolute-path-output-dir} --depotUser ${depotUser} -b ${bundle_name}

in my case it was:

./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --download --outputDirectory /some/temporary/location --depotUser [email protected] -b bundle-80029

This allowed me to grab the download from /some/temporary/path and save it/upload it on my other SDDC Managers that were missing it.

Finally before the patch can be used in SDDC Manager we need to upload it to the repo. Please note that once we issue the upload command the download gets deleted, so make sure you save the download ahead of time

./lcm-bundle-transfer-util --upload --bundleDirectory /some/temporary/path -b bundle-80029

or via API

curl -k http://127.0.0.1/lcm/bundle/upload -X POST -d ‘{“bundle”:”/some/temporary/path/bundle-80029.tar”,”manifest”:”/some/temporary/path/bundle-80029.manifest”, “signature”:”/some/temporary/path/bundle-80029.manifest.sig”}’ -H ‘Content-Type:application/json’

Once the upload was complete i was able to see it in SDDC Manager as a package that i can apply.

A list of bundles can be found here

VCF depot build numbers

VCF VersionBundle NameSizeComponentTypeBundle ID
5.1.0.0bundle-99536640.0MBESX_HOST-8.0.2-22380479PATCHefca585c-4fd8-4ec4-9b08-c50701aa2f7d
bundle-9954110500.4MBNSX_T_MANAGER-4.1.2.1.0-22667789PATCH39759b15-d985-4c15-85d6-7d44fd24df45
bundle-995392089.2MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.1.0.0-22688368PATCHb9308692-c98a-4afc-b49f-601f16105d92
bundle-995400.0MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.1.0.0-22688368PATCH(Drift)f3a11b49-4209-4c2b-8b26-aea98b1f8450
bundle-9953716801.6MBVCENTER-8.0.2.00100-22617221PATCH0a1ba239-eab9-41c6-b0e6-9738a463bdbe
bundle-9954214606.2MBNSX_T_MANAGER-4.1.2.1.0-22667789INSTALLc5a39cf5-eca2-4206-8375-082f827612b8
bundle-9953810493.0MBVCENTER-8.0.2.00100-22617221INSTALL96cf61e1-85b3-461f-8dfe-5abbeed33ab7
5.0.0.1bundle-943752044.9MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.0.0.1-22485660PATCH8fe51a93-ff6b-45e1-b9b9-49ad60612703
bundle-94376251.5MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.0.0.1-22485660PATCH(Drift)0602cf8f-9a37-4b38-90ba-f26a19a80cf6
5.0.0.0bundle-80035599.5MBESX_HOST-8.0.1-21813344PATCHef970211-02bf-429a-8edd-91f3bc7c1b42
bundle-8003110089.9MBNSX_T_MANAGER-4.1.0.2.0-21761691PATCH3ae76665-4c93-422e-9af8-aafe79a1ee7f
bundle-800292044.7MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.0.0.0-21822418PATCHb562189e-0c93-489e-a0b9-e12b01efffb8
bundle-80030251.3MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-5.0.0.0-21822418PATCH(Drift)393fb05f-23ff-47d1-8b84-db39647677ce
bundle-800339867.6MBVCENTER-8.0.1.00100-21815093PATCHb862f68d-22a8-457d-a85d-56d72370076e
bundle-8003213874.6MBNSX_T_MANAGER-4.1.0.2.0-21761691INSTALL7df70351-902f-49e4-a366-553f340d2f3a
bundle-800349867.6MBVCENTER-8.0.1.00100-21815093INSTALLb1f5bf8e-c133-44a3-9393-efa772c9c0ce
4.5.2.0bundle-83610382.1MBESX_HOST-7.0.3-21930508PATCHb9462fde-a7d0-4965-b217-cd09bd21bcc5
bundle-873188615.4MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.2.3.1.0-22104592PATCH259b722b-f8b5-4b4c-9e71-4ebe135cd38e
bundle-884452012.6MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.5.2.0-22223457PATCH363bd141-7d19-4287-9c7a-091c11042ca0
bundle-88446250.5MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.5.2.0-22223457PATCH(Drift)85192dee-1d47-4211-bbdb-999d604f601f
bundle-811466420.0MBVCENTER-7.0.3.01500-21784236PATCH4ac2b679-5e5b-43a6-b74b-5fd4e3c978c0
bundle-8731910618.2MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.2.3.1.0-22104592INSTALLfcde592c-7a6c-4c92-a6b3-669833dc6910
bundle-811478575.4MBVCENTER-7.0.3.01500-21784236INSTALL659351d3-9d66-45d6-84b0-14451f54cd6f
4.5.1.0bundle-73789381.8MBESX_HOST-7.0.3-21424296PATCH2b458531-b783-458e-bc43-3da1ddcd096f
bundle-737858402.7MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.2.2.1.0-21487560PATCHe5f9e44f-9123-425e-bee9-07806379d671
bundle-772612150.0MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.5.1.0-21682411PATCH65b6d750-5ef3-4456-b4c2-65ef96048fb6
bundle-77262250.2MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.5.1.0-21682411PATCH(Drift)8a132cc7-f9b7-4f69-b654-7ea8f7059905
bundle-737876419.8MBVCENTER-7.0.3.01400-21477706PATCH3b8ae94b-582b-4356-b152-2b01e947a072
bundle-7378610461.8MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.2.2.1.0-21487560INSTALLf90627d1-a038-4771-9a8a-dfbe1ffa760b
bundle-737888575.1MBVCENTER-7.0.3.01400-21477706INSTALL37ec3570-d827-4f32-8eac-92e2b6e21964
4.5.0.0bundle-61598382.9MBESX_HOST-7.0.3-20328353PATCHc6a50311-47be-4b53-891d-9f5ecb75d087
bundle-627688064.0MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.2.1.2.0-20541212PATCH4f2f5d65-53ca-4b58-a85c-49d5b337cc64
bundle-635992106.0MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.5.0.0-20612863PATCHb984c5e4-167a-4886-8f23-be34c9176ca9
bundle-63600247.6MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.5.0.0-20612863PATCH(Drift)4581e5e3-b82f-46b9-99cc-e35584f14de0
bundle-615946381.1MBVCENTER-7.0.3.01000-20395099PATCH34b75350-c552-4c93-b306-75658a3332a4
bundle-6276910053.7MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.2.1.2.0-20541212INSTALL4fe5a96f-d5c3-4730-9970-6d94bc5a63af
bundle-615968344.2MBVCENTER-7.0.3.01000-20395099INSTALL8da5d209-c8ac-493f-9e6a-f00a5bd5f155
4.4.1.1bundle-5834710246.1MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.4.1.1-19948546PATCH193486eb-53f5-40c7-8012-b5dcab515ebf
bundle-58348233.8MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.4.1.1-19948546PATCH(Drift)3c32c5d6-b5e0-49c6-9a86-90bcd3de671e
4.4.1.0bundle-56937395.5MBESX_HOST-7.0.3-19482537PATCH043e2b99-b36f-45b9-a4a2-1632a24764ef
bundle-573477127.2MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.7.4-19762317PATCH193486eb-53f5-40c7-8012-b5dcab515ebf
bundle-5734410246.2MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.4.1.0-19766960PATCH13d87a53-298d-4ee5-98ca-b9e10eece7a5
bundle-57346233.8MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.4.1.0-19766960PATCH(Drift)8c178f33-b28d-47d0-88da-aa94f309a042
bundle-557437139.0MBVCENTER-7.0.3.00500-19480866PATCH05be2afd-990d-45bd-9472-fab032e8c696
bundle-573488535.7MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.7.4-19762317INSTALL3c32c5d6-b5e0-49c6-9a86-90bcd3de671e
bundle-557459202.7MBVCENTER-7.0.3.00500-19480866INSTALL4073e1c9-4eeb-4d46-97b5-374daa24be41
4.4.0.0bundle-52995395.3MBESX_HOST-7.0.3-19193900PATCHd214e445-8509-4d50-adac-59d56acd86ae
bundle-529807154.5MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.5.0-19068434PATCH348187d2-9930-41d6-9ee1-345857e53a3f
bundle-5343110188.6MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.4.0.0-19312029PATCH4f22c22f-441d-4ed9-bb70-697d10bcf028
bundle-53432230.3MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.4.0.0-19312029PATCH(Drift)54485cb4-8db2-4e86-8962-5c4fc54d5727
bundle-56535230.4MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.4.0.0-19617653PATCH(Drift)b27c6275-742c-4d51-a907-eba0e158ede3
bundle-529867223.8MBVCENTER-7.0.3.00300-19234570PATCH3bbd1018-1e3f-478d-b201-4287aeb136d8
bundle-529828610.0MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.5.0-19068434INSTALL7ae68403-5863-4fcf-8886-f27460c59e85
bundle-529909244.9MBVCENTER-7.0.3.00300-19234570INSTALL7b7816d6-64f9-42a1-be35-3c5d185f08a3
4.3.1.1bundle-5270410695.5MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.3.1.1-19235535PATCH4ea809be-5359-4ac8-b32f-2337c0820d8b
bundle-52705230.5MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.3.1.1-19235535PATCH(Drift)fd85a861-a972-4da8-b708-8b35aa897e25
4.3.1.0bundle-47505389.4MBESX_HOST-7.0.2-18426014PATCH50f69840-b920-4d1b-81fa-bb934fa13c24
bundle-475017105.9MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.1.0-18504668PATCH2f39eed1-94e3-4295-937d-2ea785a2485a
bundle-4839010336.5MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.3.1.0-18624509PATCH4162045d-0b25-4ca3-8e38-0371908ed9e6
bundle-48392230.5MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.3.1.0-18624509PATCH(Drift)8f26c34a-7488-4960-aaf7-276ba313846b
bundle-475035394.0MBVCENTER-7.0.2.00500-18455184PATCH47d01e0c-ae43-4f74-a57a-b8b3ecbe878b
bundle-475028501.4MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.1.0-18504668INSTALL9e3175b7-57bc-49cf-8e22-c3885061b48a
bundle-475047383.3MBVCENTER-7.0.2.00500-18455184INSTALLc49b858d-ed29-48bb-9d13-403d96a3ece3
4.3.0.0bundle-43745390.1MBESX_HOST-7.0.2-17867351PATCH1625a9f9-a96b-4dda-98c6-58938fb29667
bundle-464667123.1MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.0.0-18328989PATCH104298b4-bee8-4eae-9791-fc8ff5516f31
bundle-4700610331.2MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.3.0.0-18433963PATCH3f44edc1-6862-4d85-b646-a6bc24698c32
bundle-47008230.3MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.3.0.0-18433963PATCH(Drift)5c1a58d6-2e2d-45bf-960a-5d05b7fee2e3
bundle-464685394.4MBVCENTER-7.0.2.00400-18356314PATCH8d83266a-3b96-467c-8071-74617e10da05
bundle-464678568.5MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.3.0.0-18328989INSTALLf14e528f-df76-447d-a235-93b069291f5c
bundle-464697383.7MBVCENTER-7.0.2.00400-18356314INSTALL3f560300-18e9-4d9b-bcf5-0b4688c7612b
4.2.1.0bundle-425156995.1MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.2.0.0-17883596PATCHc6550bcc-9519-423f-b383-625774fed5a6
bundle-4290510142.7MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.2.1.0-18016307PATCHdf3c4a11-cca4-4cad-b776-35f2035633dd
bundle-42906209.3MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.2.1.0-18016307PATCH(Drift)a534958a-5af3-4728-bcfc-4196e813f6fe
bundle-425215114.4MBVCENTER-7.0.1.00301-17956102PATCH731433e4-122e-40a9-aaba-3ebc1be133d3
bundle-425198394.9MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.2.0.0-17883596INSTALL5881bb39-180f-4563-b434-824d9aa10413
bundle-425227722.8MBVCENTER-7.0.1.00301-17956102INSTALL300a8dcd-c774-4c22-9ea0-b0f08d38e004
4.2.0.0bundle-37983369.0MBESX_HOST-7.0.1-17551050PATCHe7ee206d-069f-4982-8271-38e7970dcf9a
bundle-328107057.7MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.0.0.0-17107167PATCHff249395-d58a-4d3d-8111-9237fe6a6a45
bundle-3797910070.0MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.2.0.0-17559673PATCH906c8d8f-c28d-4122-8720-43be7af2cbfd
bundle-37982209.3MBSDDC_MANAGER_VCF-4.2.0.0-17559673PATCH(Drift)e53edad7-26df-4282-8874-d1724e63ac5b
bundle-353215140.8MBVCENTER-7.0.1.00200-17327517PATCHa9938c7e-d30c-4ce9-adab-831f835e6c12
bundle-328118427.7MBNSX_T_MANAGER-3.1.0.0.0-17107167INSTALL1cce3a86-7292-4c91-b0db-20274f2c741d
bundle-353227749.3MBVCENTER-7.0.1.00200-17327517INSTALL9d272a97-9a55-492e-b661-0a8f3f2dfd4a

Source https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/96099

How to use: Downloading specific VCF bundles via CLI

Upgrading Aria Automation without Lifecycle Manager: A Step-by-Step Guide

Upgrading Aria Automation (formerly known as vRealize Automation, vRA) is crucial for maintaining the efficiency, security, and compatibility of your automation tasks. For environments without VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle, you can still perform the upgrade using the vracli command-line utility. This blog post will guide you through the process of upgrading Aria Automation using two different methods: from a mounted ISO (CD-ROM) and from an online update repository URL.

Prerequisites

  • SSH access to your Aria Automation appliance.
  • Sufficient backup of your Aria Automation environment.
  • Downloaded ISO for the Aria Automation upgrade, if using the CD-ROM method.
  • Access to the Aria Automation appliance with root privileges.

Method 1: Upgrading from a Mounted ISO (CD-ROM)

  1. Prepare the ISO Image: Before starting, ensure that the ISO image for the Aria Automation upgrade is downloaded and available.
  2. Mount the ISO to the Appliance: Mount the ISO image to your Aria Automation appliance. This step might require physical access to the server or through the management interface provided by your hypervisor (e.g., ESXi). To mount the CD-ROM we can use:
mount /dev/sr0 /mnt/cdrom
  1. SSH into the Aria Automation Appliance: Access your appliance via SSH as the root user.
  2. Execute the Upgrade Command: Run the following command to start the upgrade process:
vracli upgrade exec -y --profile lcm --repo cdrom://
  1. This command will automatically start the upgrade process using the ISO mounted on the CD-ROM drive. The -y flag automates the acceptance of the upgrade process, and --profile lcm specifies the use of the lifecycle manager upgrade profile, even though the Lifecycle Manager itself is not being used.
  2. Monitor the Upgrade Process: The upgrade process will provide output to the console. Monitor this output for any errors or prompts that require manual intervention.
  3. Use 'vracli upgrade status --follow' to monitor the progress.
  4. Finalize the Upgrade: Once the upgrade completes, follow any on-screen instructions to finalize the upgrade. This may include rebooting the Aria Automation appliance.

Method 2: Upgrading from an Online Update Repository URL

  1. SSH into the Aria Automation Appliance: Ensure you have SSH access to the appliance as the root user.
  2. Determine the Repository URL: Identify the URL of the update repository you intend to use for the upgrade. This URL should point to the VMware online repository or an internally hosted repository mirror.
  3. Execute the Upgrade Command: Use the following command to initiate the upgrade from the online repository:
vracli upgrade exec --profile lcm -r <url>
  1. Replace <url> with the actual URL of your update repository. Similar to the CD-ROM method, --profile lcm indicates the lifecycle manager upgrade profile.
  2. Monitor the Upgrade Process: As with the ISO method, keep an eye on the console output for any actions required on your part.
  3. Use 'vracli upgrade status --follow' to monitor the progress.
  4. Complete the Upgrade: After the upgrade process finishes, perform any additional steps prompted by the system, which may include system reboots.

Post-Upgrade Steps

  • Verify the Upgrade: Log in to the Aria Automation user interface to verify that the upgrade was successful and all services are running correctly.
  • Review Logs: Check the upgrade logs for any warnings or errors that might need attention.
  • Test Deployments: Execute a few test deployments to ensure that all functionalities are working as expected.

Conclusion

Upgrading Aria Automation without the Lifecycle Manager is straightforward with the vracli utility. Whether you’re upgrading from a mounted ISO or an online repository, the process is designed to be seamless. Always ensure that you have backups and a rollback plan in case of any issues.

Deploying Aria Automation 8.16 using the Easy Installer

In this guide i will go over the deployment of Aria Automation 8.16 using the Easy Installer. The reason i like the Easy Installer is because it deploys everything that I need: Identity Manager, Aria Suite Lifecycle as well as Aria Automation.

To get started we need to download the installer from here.

Once downloaded mount the iso as a drive using your favorite tool or extract it as a archive using something like 7-zip

Once mounted go to the CDROM in the vrlcm-ui-installer\Mac directory if on mac or vrlcm-ui-installer\win32 if you are on windows. In here run the installer file

We will be presented with the following window:

Once we click Install we will be presented with an Introduction of what components will be included part on the installation. In my case i can see Aria Automation 8.16, Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.14, Identity Manager 3.3.7.

Click Next, Review, accept the agreement and click next

Provide the vCenter details and click next. In my case i used the administrator account. A detailed list of permissions needed for deployment can be found here

Sections 4, 5, 6 and 7 are straight forward so i will skip them

In section 8 select a password that will be used across all products for the local usernames. ex for LCM root and local admin, vIDM admin, sshuser, root etc

Select a VM name for the Lifecycle Manager appliance and its ip. If you are expecting a large repository in lifecycle manager we can add additional disk under the Increase Disk Size in GB section.

The FIPS Mode compliance option enforces FIPS compliance, however keep in mind that with the FIPS mode enabled there are limitation on what the product can do. This can be disabled later and re enabled as needed.

Complete the fields and click next

The next portion is vIDM. In case there is an existing vIDM appliance in the environment we can also import and existing vIDM appliance. In my case i will deploy a new one.

One important option under vIDM is the Sync Group Members to the Directory When Adding Group. When enabled, members of the groups are synced when groups are added from Active Directory. When this is disabled, group names are synced to the directory, but members of the group are not synced until the group is entitled to an application or the group name is added to an access policy. Note: Post deployment this value cannot be changed from vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager. To update this field post deployment, navigate to VMware Identity Manager

My configuration page looks like this:

The next section is the vRA Configuration. In here we have a couple of options. We can perform a standard 1 node deployment or a cluster deployment which includes 3 appliances. The FIPS Compliance mode enables FIPS compliance. Unlike LCM this mode cannot be disabled after the deployment. This disables a number of options in vRA from an LCM perspective. Please make sure that its only enabled if required.

The advanced configuration at the bottom of the page includes the option to change the internal Kubernetes cluster and Service ip range. This is useful if the default range is already in use on the internal network. We want to make sure we pick an ip range thats not used somewhere else in order to avoid routing issues. Once complete click next

The next page gives us a summary of our deployment and we can click submit to start the deployment.

Next we are presented with the installation process. We can follow it along, in my environment the full deployment took about 1.5 hrs

After the install is complete we are presented to links for the different services

Next i would recommend LCM certificate management found here

Upgrading VMware Aria Automation to 8.14.1

In this post i will go over upgrading my 8.x vRA appliance to 8.14.1. As a pre requirement we do need to have VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle upgraded to 8.14. Instructions can be found here. The upgrade does not include the latest PSPACK that contains the 8.14.1 VMware Aria Automation release. Instructions to get the PSPACK can be found on my other blog post here.

To get started we can go to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> Binary Mapping. (If you haven’t added your My VMware credentials you will need to do that first by going to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> My VMware)

Click on Add Binaries under Product Binaries

Select My VMware and click on Discover

We can see a list of binaries that have been discovered. We can select what we need and click on Add

This will create a request and start downloading the package. To view the progress we can click on the Click Here hyperlink

Click on the in Progress button to view the details

We now have to wait for the download to complete

After the download is complete we can go to Environments -> View Details on the environment that includes vRA

Click on Upgrade

An Inventory sync is recommended if the environment has changed since LCM performed the last sync. We trigger the sync from the UI or click on Proceed to continue

Select product Version 8.14.1 and click Next. We can also review the compatibility matrix to make sure the environment is compatible.

A new feature that was added was the capability to automatically create a snapshot prior to the upgrade and remove it after the upgrade. On this screen we also have the ability to chose if we want to keep the snapshots post upgrade for validation testing for example. Click next

Run the Precheck to make sure there are no errors

The next screen remind us of hardware requirements for vRA and vIDM which can be checked here for vRA and vIDM which can be checked here. As far as i can tell they haven’t changed since the 8.3 release. Check the I took care of the manual steps above and am ready to proceed check mark and click on Run Precheck

Once the check is complete we can review the checks that were performed and we can continue by clicking Next.

Review the upgrade details and click on Next. We are taken to the progress screen where we can follow the progress.

The system will get rebooted and once its back up we will be on 8.14.1

Since we are doing a major upgrade i strongly recommend to clean the cache before using the new vRA version.

Upgrading VMware Aria Automation Config to 8.14.1

In this post i will go over upgrading my 8.x SSC appliance to 8.14.1. As a pre requirement we do need to have VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle upgraded to 8.14. Instructions can be found here. The upgrade does not include the latest PSPACK that contains the 8.14.1 Aria Automation Config release. Instructions to get the PSPACK can be found on my other blog post here.

To get started we can go to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> Binary Mapping. (If you haven’t added your My VMware credentials you will need to do that first by going to VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> My VMware)

Click on Add Binaries under Product Binaries

Select My VMware and click on Discover

We can see a list of binaries that have been discovered. We can select what we need and click on Add

This will create a request and start downloading the package. To view the progress we can click on the Click Here hyperlink

Click on the in Progress button to view the details

We now have to wait for the download to complete

After the download is complete we can go to Environments -> View Details on the environment that includes the VMware Aria Automation Config

Under VMware Automation Config tab Click on Upgrade

An Inventory sync is recommended if the environment has changed since Aria Suite Lifecycle performed the last sync. We trigger the sync from the UI or click on Proceed to continue

Select product Version 8.14.1 and click Next. We can also review the compatibility matrix to make sure the environment is compatible.

We can automatically create and delete a snapshot part of the upgrade process

Run the Precheck to make sure there are no errors

Once the check is complete, click on Next. Review the upgrade details and click on Next. We are taken to the progress screen where we can follow the progress.

The system will get rebooted and once its back up we will be on 8.14.1

Here are a few additional blogs that might be useful post upgrade:

Error Code: LCMVSSC10018

SSC 8.8 sseapi_rpc_queue: could not connect to SSE server

SSC 8.8 urllib3 (1.25.11) or chardet (4.0.0) doesn’t match a supported version

Authentication failed: no Authorization header