I recently ran in to a problem where i couldnt delete an NSX segment so i went exploring the API. The API guide can be found here
The method used is delete policy/api/v1/infra/segments/{segment-id}?force=true
It would look like this in Postman:
To list the segments we can use a get request towards /policy/api/v1/infra/segments/
I recently ran in to a problem where i wanted to perform a clean configuration of one of my ESXi hosts from an NSX perspective, however i ran in to a problem where NSX was reporting that the packages are already installed. To fix the issue i had to run the following to list the packages installed:
esxcli software vib list | grep -i nsxOnce i had the list all i had to do is uninstall them using:
esxcli software vib remove -n packagename1 -n packagename2 ...Once the uninstall was complete i was able to redeploy NSX from the NSX Manager
I needed to create a few additional accounts in NSX-T for outside sources. Instead of creating individual accounts i wanted to use the existing ones from AD.
To get started we need to get the certificate from the vIDM server. Log on to the vIDM server as root and run the following:
openssl1 s_client -connect <FQDN of vIDM host>:443 < /dev/null 2> /dev/null | openssl x509 -sha256 -fingerprint -noout -in /dev/stdinNext we need to create the OAuth client ID in vIDM. Log in to the vIDM UI using the url <FQDN of vIDM host>SAAS/admin/app/page#!/dashboard as admin and Navigate to Catalog -> Settings
Navigate to Remote App Access -> Clients -> Create Client
In the Access Type chose Service Client Token, Client ID can be anything. Under Advanced click on Generate Shared Secret (take a note of this because we need it on the NSX side)
Next, log in to the NSX-T cluster and go to System -> Users and Roles -> VMWARE IDENTITY MANAGER -> Edit
Next fill in all the required fields with the existing data that we generated in the previous steps
Next we can see the integration as enabled and the connection as up
Next we can go to USERS click on ADD -> Role Assignment for VIDM
As you type in a user the system will try to auto complete it
Once the users and groups are defined all is left is to test out the authentication and validate that everything works
Infrastructure management has come a long way in recent years, with a variety of tools and frameworks available to help you provision, configure, and manage your infrastructure. Two popular tools in this space are SaltStack and Terraform, but they serve different purposes and have different strengths. In this post, we’ll explore the differences between SaltStack and Terraform, and when you might choose one over the other.
SaltStack is a configuration management tool that allows you to define and apply a set of configurations or settings to a group of servers or other infrastructure components. Configuration management is an important aspect of infrastructure management because it ensures that all servers and systems in your infrastructure are consistent and conform to a known configuration. This can help with security, reliability, and troubleshooting.
SaltStack is designed to be highly scalable and flexible, with the ability to manage tens of thousands of servers at once. It uses a master-minion architecture, where a central Salt master node sends commands and configurations to individual Salt minion nodes on each server. This allows you to manage a large number of servers from a single central location.
SaltStack allows you to define configuration states in a declarative way, using a domain-specific language called Salt State. With Salt State, you define the desired state of each server, including packages, files, services, and other configurations. SaltStack then applies those states to the appropriate servers, ensuring that they conform to the desired configuration.
One of the strengths of SaltStack is its ability to handle complex configurations and dependencies. SaltStack allows you to define relationships between different configurations, so that dependencies are automatically resolved and configurations are applied in the correct order. This can be especially useful in large and complex infrastructures, where dependencies between configurations can be difficult to manage manually.
SaltStack also has a large and active community, with many modules and plugins available to extend its functionality. This can be helpful if you need to customize SaltStack to meet your specific needs.
Terraform, on the other hand, is a tool for infrastructure provisioning and management. It allows you to define and deploy infrastructure resources such as servers, networks, and storage in a variety of cloud and on-premises environments. Terraform is designed to be infrastructure-as-code, meaning you define your infrastructure in a text file and use Terraform to create and manage those resources.
Terraform uses a declarative configuration language called HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) to define your infrastructure. With HCL, you define the desired state of your infrastructure, including the resources you want to create, their configuration settings, and any dependencies between resources. Terraform then creates and manages those resources, ensuring that they conform to the desired configuration.
One of the strengths of Terraform is its ability to manage infrastructure resources across a wide range of environments, including public and private clouds, on-premises data centers, and even edge computing environments. Terraform has a large number of providers available that allow you to provision and manage resources in popular cloud providers such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform, as well as other infrastructure environments such as Kubernetes, VMware, and OpenStack.
Another strength of Terraform is its support for infrastructure versioning and collaboration. Because you define your infrastructure as code, you can use version control tools such as Git to track changes to your infrastructure over time. This makes it easier to collaborate with other team members and to revert changes if necessary.
So, when should you choose SaltStack over Terraform, and vice versa? The answer depends on your specific needs
In this post i will go over upgrading my 8.x SSC appliance to 8.11.1. As a pre requirement we do need to have vRSLCM (vRealize Lifecycle Manager) upgraded to 8.11.1. Instructions can be found here. The upgrade does not include the latest PSPACK that contains the 8.11.1 SaltStack Config release. Instructions to get the PSPACK can be found on my other blog post here.
To get started we can go to vRealize Lifecycle Manager -> Lifecycle Operations -> Settings -> Binary Mapping. (If you haven’t added your My VMware credentials you will need to do that first by going to vRealize Lifecycle Manager -> 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 SSC
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 8.11.1 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 8.11
Here are a few additional blogs that might be useful post upgrade:
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
vRealize Automation and Chef are both popular tools used in IT automation, but they approach automation in different ways. In this blog, we will compare vRealize Automation with Chef to help you understand their differences and similarities.
What is vRealize Automation?
vRealize Automation is an IT automation tool that enables the automation of the deployment and management of virtual infrastructure and applications. It helps organizations to streamline their IT processes and create more efficient workflows. vRealize Automation provides a single platform for IT teams to manage and automate the deployment of infrastructure and applications.
What is Chef?
Chef is an infrastructure automation tool that enables the automation of the entire IT infrastructure. It helps organizations to create consistent and reliable infrastructure that can be easily managed and maintained. Chef provides a single platform for IT teams to manage and automate the deployment of infrastructure and applications.
Comparison between vRealize Automation and Chef
Conclusion
In conclusion, vRealize Automation and Chef are both powerful automation tools, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. vRealize Automation is more suited for managing virtual infrastructure and applications, while Chef is more suited for managing the entire IT infrastructure. vRealize Automation is easier to learn and has more out-of-the-box integrations with other VMware tools, while Chef has a steeper learning curve but has more extensive integrations with other tools. Ultimately, the choice between vRealize Automation and Chef will depend on your organization’s specific needs and priorities.
vRealize Automation and Chef are both popular tools used in IT automation, but they approach automation in different ways. In this blog, we will compare vRealize Automation with Chef to help you understand their differences and similarities.
What is vRealize Automation?
vRealize Automation is an IT automation tool that enables the automation of the deployment and management of virtual infrastructure and applications. It helps organizations to streamline their IT processes and create more efficient workflows. vRealize Automation provides a single platform for IT teams to manage and automate the deployment of infrastructure and applications.
What is Chef?
Chef is an infrastructure automation tool that enables the automation of the entire IT infrastructure. It helps organizations to create consistent and reliable infrastructure that can be easily managed and maintained. Chef provides a single platform for IT teams to manage and automate the deployment of infrastructure and applications.
Comparison between vRealize Automation and Chef
Conclusion
In conclusion, vRealize Automation and Chef are both powerful automation tools, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. vRealize Automation is more suited for managing virtual infrastructure and applications, while Chef is more suited for managing the entire IT infrastructure. vRealize Automation is easier to learn and has more out-of-the-box integrations with other VMware tools, while Chef has a steeper learning curve but has more extensive integrations with other tools. Ultimately, the choice between vRealize Automation and Chef will depend on your organization’s specific needs and priorities.
In the world of DevOps, automation tools are essential for managing infrastructure, applications, and processes. Two popular tools for automation are vRealize Automation and Jenkins. Both tools are designed to simplify and streamline processes, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. In this blog, we’ll compare vRealize Automation and Jenkins to help you decide which tool is right for your automation needs.
What is vRealize Automation? vRealize Automation is a cloud automation tool developed by VMware. It is designed to automate the deployment and management of applications, infrastructure, and multi-cloud environments. vRealize Automation provides an end-to-end solution for automating infrastructure and application delivery across a hybrid cloud environment.
What is Jenkins? Jenkins is an open-source automation tool that provides a platform for building, testing, and deploying software. It is used for continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) to automate the software development process. Jenkins provides a platform for developers to integrate code changes, run tests, and deploy applications to production.
Ease of Use vRealize Automation is designed for enterprise-level automation and can be complex to set up and use. It requires advanced technical skills to install and configure. In contrast, Jenkins is straightforward to set up and use, making it an ideal tool for smaller teams or individual developers.
Scalability vRealize Automation is designed to scale to meet the demands of large enterprises with multiple teams, environments, and applications. It provides a centralized view of infrastructure and applications across multiple clouds, making it easy to manage and scale. Jenkins is also scalable, but it requires additional plugins and customization to achieve enterprise-level automation.
Integration vRealize Automation is designed to integrate with other VMware tools, making it an ideal choice for organizations that use VMware software. It can also integrate with other third-party tools, such as Ansible, Terraform, and GitLab. Jenkins is an open-source tool that can integrate with a wide range of tools and technologies, including AWS, Azure, Docker, and Kubernetes.
Workflow Management vRealize Automation provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for managing workflows and automating tasks. It uses a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy to design and manage workflows. Jenkins, on the other hand, provides a scripting language that requires developers to write code to manage workflows.
Security vRealize Automation is designed with enterprise-level security features, such as multi-factor authentication, role-based access control, and integration with security tools like VMware AppDefense. Jenkins is also secure, but it requires additional plugins and configuration to achieve enterprise-level security.
Cost vRealize Automation is a commercial tool that requires a license, making it more expensive than Jenkins. Jenkins is an open-source tool that is free to use and can be extended with plugins and customization.
Conclusion vRealize Automation and Jenkins are both powerful automation tools that can simplify and streamline the software development process. vRealize Automation is an ideal choice for large enterprises that require enterprise-level automation and security features. Jenkins, on the other hand, is a flexible and open-source tool that is easy to set up and use, making it an ideal choice for small teams and individual developers. When deciding between vRealize Automation and Jenkins, consider your organization’s size, automation needs, and technical skills.
When it comes to automating and managing large-scale infrastructure, two popular tools are SaltStack Config and Terraform. While both tools offer valuable solutions, SaltStack Config stands out as the better choice for organizations looking for a comprehensive solution.
SaltStack Config is a configuration management tool that offers a unique combination of powerful configuration management and resource management features. Its master-minion architecture enables efficient communication between the master node and the minions, allowing for the enforcement of desired state configurations across a large number of servers. This makes SaltStack Config the ideal solution for organizations that need to manage and maintain a large number of servers.
In addition to its configuration management capabilities, SaltStack Config also offers resource management features that allow organizations to manage and automate the deployment of software and updates across their infrastructure. This saves time and reduces the risk of human error, making SaltStack Config a great choice for organizations looking to streamline and automate their infrastructure management processes.
SaltStack Config is also user-friendly and easy to understand. It uses Python as its primary language, which is a popular and widely used language in the technology industry. This makes it easier for organizations to find and hire skilled professionals who can work with SaltStack Config, and also makes it easier for organizations with large IT teams to understand and maintain the tool.
In conclusion, SaltStack Config is the better choice for organizations looking for a comprehensive solution for infrastructure management and automation. Its combination of powerful configuration management and resource management features, along with its ease of use and Python-based syntax, make it the ideal choice for organizations looking to streamline and automate their infrastructure management processes. Whether you need to manage a large number of servers or are simply looking for a more efficient way to manage your infrastructure, SaltStack Config has you covered.
VMware vRealize Operations (vROps) is not the only tool available for managing the performance and capacity of virtual environments. Another solution that has gained popularity in recent years is the Cloud Workload Optimization Manager (CWOM). In this blog, we will compare vROps workload optimizations with CWOM to help organizations determine which solution is best suited for their needs.
In conclusion, vROps workload optimizations provide a comprehensive solution for managing virtual environments, while CWOM is a specialized tool for optimizing resource utilization for cloud workloads. Organizations should consider their specific needs, the size and complexity of their virtual environment, and their budget when deciding between vROps and CWOM.
In general, organizations with large, complex virtual environments may find vROps to be the better choice, while smaller organizations with specific cloud optimization needs may prefer CWOM. However, both solutions can provide significant benefits and organizations should carefully consider their specific requirements before making a decision.