Installation Guide to vRealize Orchestrator (vRO)

Installing VMware vRealize Orchestrator (vRO) 7.3.0

WAYS TO INSTALL AND USE VREALIZE ORCHESTRATOR

There are two ways to use vRealize Orchestrator:

1.    As a standalone virtual appliance – this method is useful for needs where vRealize Orchestrator is being used by itself or in scale-out scenarios where server function is being separated in a vRealize Automation deployment.

2.    Built-in with the vRealize Automation virtual appliance – this method is useful for smaller vRealize Automation deployments and is fully supported by VMware in production environments.

DOWNLOAD THE VREALIZE ORCHESTRATOR VIRTUAL APPLIANCE

The download procedures for the two virtual appliances containing the vRealize Orchestrator components are similar:

1.    Navigate to the myvmware.com portal

2.    Log in using a set of credentials which has an entitlement to an order or enterprise agreement/contract that includes one of the following components:

1.    vCenter Server Standard

2.    vRealize Automation Standard, Advanced, or Enterprise (note: Standard does not exist beyond version 6.x and was exclusively distributed as part of the vCloud Suite Standard 6.x bundle)

3.    vCloud Suite Advanced or Enterprise

4.    vRealize Suite Advanced or Enterprise

3.    Navigate to either the vSphere, vRealize Automation, or vRealize Suite downloads

4.    Find the vRealize Orchestrator virtual appliance, and initiate the download

IMPORT THE SELECTED VIRTUAL APPLIANCE

Once you’ve downloaded the virtual appliance, you’ll need to import it into your environment.  The procedures for importing a virtual appliance will vary depending on the tools being used, which could be VMware Workstation, ESXi server, or vCenter Server. 

The following pre-requisites are necessary before beginning the virtual appliance deployment:

·         Appliance hostname – valid DNS hostnames for appliances being deployed

·         Domain name – the domain suffix of each virtual appliance

·         DNS Host(A) Records – appropriate DNS entries should be created matching the appliance hostnames for all appliances being deployed

·         DNS Reverse Lookup Records – it should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway – ensure reverse lookup records are present for the appliances being deployed

·         IP Addresses – valid IP addresses for each virtual appliance

·         Default Gateway – valid default gateway info for each virtual appliance

·         Subnet Mask – correct subnet mask for each virtual appliance

The instructions below are included for deployment using vCenter Server:

1.    Log in to the vSphere Web Client with a user account that has permissions to import OVF templates

2.    Right-click the cluster or compute resource, and click Deploy OVF Template…

3.    Select the Local file radio button for the source of the OVF template

4.    Click the “Browse…” button to bring up the file selection dialog

5.    Browse for and select the vRealize Orchestrator virtual appliance OVA

6.    Click Open to choose the OVA

7.    Click the “Next” button to continue in the wizard

8.    Change the display name of the virtual machine to something recognizable. For example, it is always a good practice to match the display name to the virtual machine’s host name

9.    Select the VM folder in the inventory tree where you want the virtual appliance to land after deployment

10.  Click the “Next” button

11.  Select the cluster or compute resource to launch the virtual machine on

12.  Click the “Next” button

13.  Review the given details, and click the “Next” button

14.  Click the “Accept” button to accept the EULA

15.  Click the “Next” button

16.  Select the target datastore to which you would like to deploy the OVF template

17.  Change the virtual disk format to “Thin provision” unless you have a known reason to choose one of the other options

18.  Click the “Next” button

19.  Drop down the destination network dropdown and select the network to which the virtual appliance should be connected after deployment

20.  Click the “Next” button

21.  Uncheck the customer experience improvement program checkbox (unless you would like to participate in the program, which case you should leave it checked)

22.  Check the “Enable SSH service in the appliance” checkbox

23.  Enter the fully qualified hostname of the appliance in the Hostname field

24.  Set and confirm the root password

25.  Expand the “Networking Properties” group

26.  Enter the default gateway

27.  Enter the domain name suffix of the appliance

28.  Enter the name servers, separated by a comma if there is more than one

29.  Enter the domain name search suffix (usually the same name as the domain name)

30.  Enter the virtual appliance’s IP address

31.  Enter the network mask

32.  Click the “Next” button

33.  Review all the settings in the “Ready to complete” section, and ensure everything is accurate

34.  Go back and change anything that looks incorrect

35.  If everything has been entered correctly, click the “Finish” button to kick off the OVF template deployment procedure

The OVF template deployment takes on average 5 – 10 minutes, depending on a number of factors in the environment in which the appliance is being deployed including network speeds and storage performance on the servers.

Repeat these steps for all vRealize Orchestrator appliances being deployed.

POWER ON THE VIRTUAL APPLIANCE AND SET THE PASSWORD

Locate the virtual machine in the vCenter inventory, right-click it, select power, and click Power On.  As the machine is powering on, access the virtual machine console.  During the first boot process, it will begin configuration on the server and will wait at a prompt to set the new password.  When this prompt appears, key in the new password and confirm it.  Allow the boot/configuration process to complete.

Repeat this process on all vRealize Orchestrator appliances being deployed.

PERFORM THE INITIAL CONFIGURATION

Once the initial boot is complete (arrive at a blue/grey screen indicating the appliance is ready), it is time to complete the configuration.

Figure 1. Appliance ready screen

Navigate to the vRealize Orchestrator Control Center using the information provided on the appliance ready screen (depicted in the figure above).  The format for the Control Center Portal URL is as follows:

https://appliance-fqdn:8283/vco-controlcenter

You will be prompted with a popup login box to enter the root username and password to log in.  Once successfully authenticated, you will be taken to the vRealize Orchestrator configuration wizard.

Figure 2. vRealize Orchestrator Control Center Configuration Wizard - Step 1

Standalone Deployment

For the first node in the cluster or for a standalone deployment, follow these procedures to configure the vRealize Orchestrator for first use:

1.    Select Standalone Orchestrator in the Select deployment type.

2.    Verify the hostname is entered correctly and change it if necessary. For load balanced deployments, the name in the Host name field should match the load balanced name that maps to the cluster’s virtual IP address (VIP)

3.    Click the “Next” button to continue to the Authentication Provider configuration.

4.    Select the authentication mode. If this is a standalone vRealize Orchestrator node working with vRealize Automation, choose the vRealize Automation authentication mode

5.    If this is a standalone deployment integrating with vSphere (without vRealize Automation), choose the vSphere authentication mode, and enter the vSphere platform services control information (or vCenter Server address for an embedded deployment)

6.    Click the “Connect” button

7.    Click the “Accept Certificate” button to accept the certificate

8.    Enter the default tenant, username, and password information. In most environments, the tenant will be vsphere.local, but it can vary depending on whether the tenant was customized in vSphere, or whether this vRealize Orchestrator instance is going to work with a vRealize Automation tenant.

9.    Click the “Register” button

10.  Enter a group name or partial name, such as ‘admin’ into the Admin group field

11.  Click the “Search” button to search for groups.

12.  Select the appropriate group from the list of results, for example ‘Domain\Domain Admins’

13.  Click the “Save Changes” button

Initial configuration is now complete.

Clustered Deployment

If this is the first node in the cluster, use the procedures for creating a Standalone deployment.  For additional nodes, follow these procedures.

For a clustered deployment, select Clustered Orchestrator, and enter the remote Orchestrator node information to join a cluster with that node.