Manually Register vRealize Application Services 6.2 with vRealize Automation 6.2

If you couldn't register the Application Service during it's initial setup with vRealize Automation or for any reason the list-vcac-info command shows no registration after successful registration then you can manually do it using below simple steps

1. Take a putty session to your vRealize Application Services and login as darwin_user and do a su - and enter the root password or connect to VM console and login with root.
2. Cd to /home/darwin/tools and run below command

java -jar darwin-cli.jar

3. Now login with below information

login --serverUrl https://localhost:8443/darwin --username admin

4. Use the below commands to register manually

register-vcac-server --componentRegistryUrl https://vRA_IP_or_FQDN --ssoAdministratorUsername administrator@vsphere.local

enter the SSO password when prompted

If you receive any error related to invalid sso credentials and if you are certain about the credentials then it is mostly because of the time sync issues. Check this post

If there are still errors then un-register older vcac register if this if it is causing failures in new registration by below command. This is needed if you want to remove the current vRA registration with Application Services and register to different vRA instance

unregister-vcac-server

Exporting and Importing of Application Blueprint on vRealize Application Service

Once you have built a service blueprint successfully it could be reused on other Tenant of Application Services or other instance of Application Services. The service blueprint needs to saved locally on the Application Services appliance if there are multiple tenants or needs to be copied to other appliance before importing. You may use winSCP to copy the zip or .xml file (Service Blueprint)

Export the Application Blueprint

1. Login to Vmware application Services as root or login as darwin user and switch user to root.
2. Cd to /home/darwin/tools

3. Run the command java –jar darwin-cli.jar
   

4. Use below syntax to login

login --serverUrl https://appservicesFQDN:8443/darwin --username USERNAME --password PASSWORD --tenantId tenantName

**make sure the username you use have appropriate rights, these roles are assigned from vRA >>Administration >> Users

5. Run the below syntax to export any Application Blueprint

export-package --exportFilePath ExportFilePath  --applicationVersion name_of_the _application_ blueprint_with_version --fromGroup business_group

--exportFilePath = location where the file needs to saved, like /tmp/name_of_application.zip

--applicationVersion = exact application name with version seperated by ":". Use double quotes if there are spaces in between and format would be <application-version-name>:<major>.<minor>.<micro>

--fromGroup = name of the Business Group

Find the exact name of the blueprint by going to Application Services > Application

6. Export succeeded message confirm the successful export of Application Blueprint

Import the Application Blueprint

1. Login to Vmware application Services as root or login as darwin user and switch user to root.
2. Cd to /home/darwin/tools
3. Run the command java –jar darwin-cli.jar
4. Use below syntax to login

login --serverUrl https://appservicesFQDN:8443/darwin --username USERNAME --password PASSWORD --tenantId tenantName

5. Run the below syntax to import the Application Blueprint

import-package --importFilePath /blueprints/SQL_Server2008R2.xml --conflictResolutionAction IMPORTASNEW --targetGroup businessGroupName --suffix suffixName

 --importFilePath = location of the .zip or .xml file

--conflictResolutionAction = there are two options, IMPORTASNEW or OVERWRITE. When you use IMPORTASNEW, you can add a suffix, which is very useful when searching for applications or associated services for this blueprint.

--targetGroup = name of the Business Group

6. Import succeeded message confirms the successful import of the application Blueprint 
   

VCAP6-CMA (Beta) Objective 1.4: Configure Infrastructure/Cloud-based Endpoints

Objective 1.4: Configure Infrastructure/Cloud-based Endpoints

a. Create credentials with vRealize roles assigned according to a deployment plan
b. Manage credentials for endpoints according to a deployment plan
c. Edit Data Collection intervals for specific resources
d. Configure endpoint parameters (credentials, hostname, etc…) for infrastructure and cloud endpoints

a. Create credentials with vRealize roles assigned according to a deployment plan

Creating credentials is pretty straight forward,  where you create credentials for the endpoints you are adding.

1. Go to Infrastructure>endpoints>Credentials and click on "New Credentials"

2. Give a suitable name and enter the respective username and password. In my case i am adding my second vCenter Server

b. Manage credentials for endpoints according to a deployment plan

Management credentials is editing any changes to username and password previously saved. To edit any credentials, go to Infrastructure>endpoints>Credentials and click on the pencil icon next to credential name which you need to edit and make the respective changes

c. Edit Data Collection intervals for specific resources

Data Collection happens for Inventory (Daily), State (every 15 mins), Performance (Daily) and Network and Security inventory (Daily if NSX is added) by default. This can be edited by below steps

1. Go to Infrastructure > Compute Resources > Computer Resources and hover the mouse on desired resources and click on "Data Collection"

2. Now you can mention the number for Frequency in hours or minutes depending on if the data collection is Daily or in minutes respectively.

3. Click on OK to save the changes made. Click on "Request now" button to perform data collection immediately.

d. Configure endpoint parameters (credentials, hostname, etc…) for infrastructure and cloud endpoints

Endpoints provides the resources for the cloud deployments and on vRA 6.2 supports
Cloud

Amazon EC2
Openstack
vApp (vCloud)

Orchestration

vCenter Orchestrator

Physical

Cisco UCS Manager
Dell iDRAC
HP ILO

Storage

NETAPP ONTAP

Virtual
Hyper-V (SCVMM)
KVM (RHEV)
vSphere (vCenter)

To Add vSphere Endpoint 

1. Go to Infrastructure > Endpoints > New Endpoint and select Virtual and then vSphere (vCenter)

2. Enter the Name and Address, vCenter in my case. Note the /sdk after the complete address of vCenter.

3. Choose the appropriate credentials which you created earlier by clicking the browse button next to credentials.

4. You may also add the NSX manager as show in the above screenshot

This completes the addition of endpoint. The successful addition could be confirmed by performing data collection or looking the logs under 

Infrastructure > Monitoring > Log.

 

View the complete vCAP6-CMA (Beta) blueprint here