VCONNECT V1 UPDATE 9 SETUP GUIDE. Introduction General Pre-requisites Optional Backup Feature Pre-Requisites Installation...

Transcription

1 VConnect for Windows Azure Pack Setup and Configuration Guide SETUP GUIDE Version: Published: April 21, 2017 CONTENTS Introduction... 3 General Pre-requisites... 3 Optional Backup Feature Pre-Requisites... 5 Installation... 7 VConnect API Service Installation... 7 VConnect Admin Extension Installation... 8 VConnect Tenant Extension Installation... 8 Configuration Steps... 9 Step 1: Update VConnect API Service Password... 9 Step 2: Register VConnect Resource Provider with Windows Azure Pack Step 3: Configure Database for VConnect Step 4: Configure PowerShell execution settings Step 5: Configure Script Settings Step 6: Add Connections Step 6.1: Add a Connection to VMware vcenter Step 6.2: Add a Connection to Azure Public Cloud Step 6.3: Add a Connection to System Center VMM Cloud Step 6.4: Add a Connection to AWS Public Cloud Step 6.5: Add a Connection to OpenStack Step 6.6: Add a Connection to Veeam Step 6.7: Add a Connection to Commvault

2 Step 6.8: Add a Custom Connection Step 7: Configure Connection-level Features Step 7.1: Add a Param Spec Step 7.2: Add a VM Template Step 7.2: Add Networks Step 7.3: Add dv Switch Step 7.3: Add IP Address Pools Step 7.4: Add Custom Commands Step 8: Create a Plan to Offer VConnect as a Service Step 9: Test Creating a Subscription with VConnect Step 10: Creating a Resource Template and Deploy Step 11: Creating a Tenant Networks Step 12: Onboard Existing VMs via Admin Sync Other Configurable Settings in the AppSettings Table Advanced Customizations VConnect Update 9.3 Release Notes Feature Highlights Summary of the Key features and their availability for each platform Upgrade Install Instructions Troubleshooting Appendix A: VConnect API Service Pre-requisites IIS and sub-features installation Installing ASP.NET MVC Appendix B: Frequently Asked Questions Appendix C: Known Issues

3 INTRODUCTION VConnect for Windows Azure Pack integrates VMware / Microsoft Azure / System Center / Amazon Web Services / OpenStack hosts to Windows Azure Pack. VConnect has three components and respective installers: I. VConnect API Service II. III. VConnect Admin Extension VConnect Tenant Extension These components can be installed on the same machine or multiple machines depending on the Windows Azure Pack Setup. GENERAL PRE-REQUISITES Following are some of the installation pre-requisites and checklist. VConnect Database: a. Supported SQL Server versions: i. SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014 b. Recommended: i. Set the DB Size to autogrow (no specific initial size required) c. Create a SQL database and note down the name. For example: VConnectDB d. Create a database user with read-write, owner and admin privileges just to this database PowerShell Execution Machine: Prepare a machine on which remote PowerShell can be executed via WMI a. This machine could be the same machine on which VConnect API Service will be installed or a different server. For test and express installations, we recommend using the same machine. b. If this is a separate machine, ensure that the machine can be accessed from VConnect API Service for running remote PowerShell commands. i. Allow access to ports 5985 and c. Run the following commands in the Windows Power Shell ISE on the machine where VConnect API service is installed and use appropriate thresholds for your environment: ii. winrm set ="powershellmachine"} iii. winrm set iv. winrm set v. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShells -Value

4 vi. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser -Value 500 vii. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShells - Value 500 viii. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser -Value 500 ix. Restart-Service winrm Install the following modules in the machine VMware vsphere PowerCLI (required for VMware integration) Supported Versions: 5.5 to 6.3 R1 Download PowerCLI from: Azure PowerShell (required for Azure integration) Supported Versions: 1.5 to 3.0 VMM Console (required for SPF VMM integration) Supported Versions: UR10 AWS CLI (required for AWS integration) Supported Versions: to Download AWS CLI from: Prepare vcenter: (required for VMware integration) Clusters that will be configured with VConnect must have DRS turned on in vcenter. 4

5 Recommended Settings for VM Templates in vcenter: Ensure that VM Templates in the vcenter environment used for VM provisioning through VConnect, are created with only 1 core per socket and 1 CPU. OPTIONAL BACKUP FEATURE PRE-REQUISITES Veeam Supported Versions: v7.0, v8.0, v9.0, v9.5 - VConnect Backup feature works on top of Veeam Backup and Replication software suite. - You can download trial versions from: - Veeam licenses can be purchased from CLOUD ASSERT along with VConnect licenses. Contact support@cloudassert.com for details. - On the Veeam Server machine, enable access to WMI ports 5985 and Run the following commands on the Veeam Server machine: i. winrm set winrm/config/winrs '@{MaxShellsPerUser="500"}' ii. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShells -Value 500 iii. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser - Value

6 iv. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShells -Value 500 v. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser -Value Run the following commands on the machine where VConnect API Service will be installed: i. winrm set ="powershellmachine, veeamserver"} ii. Commvault Supported Versions: v11 Remember to replace powershellmachine and veeamserver with correct values - You can download trial versions from: - Check here for the pre-requisites - On the Commvault server install web console : 6

7 INSTALLATION VCONNECT API SERVICE INSTALLATION Pre-Requisites: VConnect API Service can co-exist with other WAP Portal components, for example, you can install VConnect API Service on the same machine as WAP Admin-Site Portal. Optionally if you choose to install VConnect API Service on a separate machine, o Choose a machine with at least 4 GB RAM, preferably 8 GB o Ensure that firewall is configured to access to port o Ensure that this machine can talk to the SQL database server on which the VConnect database will be configured (refer general pre-requisites above) o Ensure IIS roles and ASP.NET MVC 4 are setup (refer Appendix A: Setting up IIS and ASP.NET MVC 4) Installation: Note: If you are upgrading from a previously supported VConnect installation, we recommend to take a backup of the VConnect database and obtain the resource provider username and password settings from VConnect API Service web.config before proceeding. Please check Upgrade install instructions. Download the installer CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.Service.Setup.msi from: Click on the installer and follow instructions on the installer and click Next till the installer finishes and then click Finish to exit. Sample installer screens shown below: 7

8 VCONNECT ADMIN EXTENSION INSTALLATION VCONNECT TENANT EXTENSION INSTALLATION Logon to the machine on which WAP Admin-Site is installed. Download the installer CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.AdminExtension.Setup.msi from: Click on the installer and follow similar steps as mentioned in above section. Follow the instructions on the installer UI and click Next till the installer finishes and then click Finish to exit. Logon to the machine on which WAP Tenant-Site is installed. Download the installer CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.TenantExtension.Setup.msi from: Click on the installer and follow similar steps as mentioned in above section. 8

9 Follow the instructions on the installer UI and click Next till the installer finishes and then click Finish to exit. User can install Backups as a separate extension by not selecting the Azure and VConnect tenant extensions. CONFIGURATION STEPS Step 1: Update VConnect API Service Password 1. Download VConnect password generator tool: 2. Extract it to a local folder. 3. Run command: VConnect.exe HashPass (YourPassWord) Note: Make sure to replace (YourPassWord) with the actual password 9

10 4. Navigate to VConnect Install folder. For example: C:\inetpub\MgmtSvc-CloudAssert-VConnect 5. Open web.config and replace the default password in the appsettings: <add key="password" value="caaaabtqqqlfxzn9gaa7jadmqycqog39+ojkf5s/ox0brn4lr+v6+hwq+ce=" /> 6. Save and close web.config file. Step 2: Register VConnect Resource Provider with Windows Azure Pack Note: If you are upgrading from a previously supported installation, the Resource Provider registration could be skipped as it might already be registered. If you changed the username or password on the previous step, then do not skip this step and must proceed with updates as mentioned below. 10

11 1. Logon to WAP Admin Portal, click on VConnect Service on the left. 2. Ignore the Resource Provider is not registered yet! and continue. 3. Enter the URL for VConnect API Service. For example, 4. Enter the password you have configured in web.config. NOTE: provide the actual password here, not the hashed password that you had given in web.config. 5. Optionally change the UserName, but remember this has to match the user name provided in appsettings of VConnect web.config. 6. Click Register 11

12 7. If the Resource Provider registration succeeds, you will see additional sections to configure. If there are errors, check the username and password again with web.config of VConnect API service and try again. Step 3: Configure Database for VConnect After registering the Resource Provider successfully, you need to configure the database for VConnect. 1. Ignore the Database not configured yet error message and continue to configuring the database. 12

13 2. Enter the database server name, user name, password and database name. 3. Click Save. 4. Once the configuration succeeds, you will see success messages like below. If you see any errors double check the database settings and try again. Note for Upgrades from Licensed V1 RTM: If you are upgrading from a previous installation and if you continue to see DB config update errors: Please recycle the VConnect API Service application pool or perform IIS Reset or update the VConnect API Service web.config file found under \inetpub\mgmtsvc-cloudassert-vconnect\web.config to trigger app recycle. If that did not help, check the VConnect logs in Event Viewer for more details and support@cloudassert.com. Note for Upgrades from Beta Releases or previous Trial Installations: If you continue to see DB configuration errors, this usually means your version of DB is not supported for the current upgrade due to major DB changes. Please create a new DB in SQL Management studio and provide the new DB name in the Settings to configure VConnect fresh and experience all the new awesome features. 13

14 5. After the DB Settings are configured, you will receive a notification to set the additional settings, specifically machine settings for executing vsphere PowerCLI, Azure PowerShell commands, etc. 14

15 Step 4: Configure PowerShell execution settings You can uncheck the check box CONFIGURE POWERSHELL SETTINGS and may not configure these settings if you are going to work with Backups alone. Proceed to the below steps to configure the Settings for PowerShell execution if the check box is checked. 1. Ensure that the target server machine has vsphere PowerCLI: 2. Refer to the General Pre-Requisites section for preparing the machine. 3. Enter the ServerName, User Name, Password. And if you have default WMI ports, then do not select USE HTTPS FOR WMI and enter 5985 for POWERSHELL WMI PORT 15

16 Note: If VConnect API Service is set up as highly available and PowerCLI is also installed on same servers please provide the server name as localhost. Step 5: Configure Script Settings - Provide the base folder path for the custom scripts so that a relative path can be provided in required features like custom commands, operation templates. Step 6: Add Connections STEP 6.1: ADD A CONNECTION TO VMWARE VCENTER Navigate to the Connections tab -> VCENTER and then click Add Connection to add a new connection information to a vcenter cluster. 16

17 Enter the following information and click to next step. 17

18 VConnect will automatically query vcenter server based on the information provided to retrieve datacenters and clusters. If the operation to populate datacenters fail, then double check the values provided in previous step. For example, ensure that the username and password are correct, and that the machine where VConnect API service is installed has access to vcenter SDK service. Operation Templates Directory: Leave this field blank, unless the default VM provisioning and deletion operations templates need to be overridden using custom operations steps. In that case, create the custom operations templates as JSON files in a sub-folder (e.g., MyOpsTemplates ) under \inetpub\mgmtsvc- CloudAssert-VConnect\bin\Templates directory, and enter the sub-folder name (e.g., MyOpsTemplates ) in the Operation Templates Directory field. Backup Provider: Optional field to set backup provider for the connection if backup feature is enabled STEP 6.2: ADD A CONNECTION TO AZURE PUBLIC CLOUD Click here to read about enabling your Azure Subscription for Azure Connect. Navigate to the Azure tab within Connections tab and then click Add Connection to add an Azure Subscription 18

19 Fill out the following Add Connection dialog with a user-friendly subscription name, along with the details for your public Azure cloud subscription and Azure active directory application settings, such as Azure Subscription ID, Azure Active Directory Application ID, Azure Active Directory Tenant ID, Azure Active Directory Application Password, and the Default Location for the Azure Resource Group that will be created for this connection. Optionally, specify an Operation Template Directory (refer to previous Section for vcenter Step 6.1). 19

20 STEP 6.3: ADD A CONNECTION TO SYSTEM CENTER VMM CLOUD Navigate to the System Center VMM tab within Connections tab and then click Add Connection to add a VMM Cloud. 20

21 Fill out the following Add Connection dialog with a user-friendly connection name, along with the details for the System Center like SPF server URL and password. In the VMM Server, VMM Cloud details will load automatically as per the details provided. 21

22 Optionally, specify an Operation Template Directory (refer to previous Section for vcenter Step 6.1). STEP 6.4: ADD A CONNECTION TO AWS PUBLIC CLOUD Navigate to the AWS tab within Connections tab and then click Add Connection to add an AWS Connection 22

23 Fill out the following Add Connection dialog with a user-friendly connection name, along with the details for AWS Connection like AWS Access Key, AWS Secret Access Key, VPC ID, and Subnet Id. 23

24 STEP 6.5: ADD A CONNECTION TO OPENSTACK Supported Hypervisor: QEMU Navigate to the OpenStack tab within Connections tab and then click Add Connection to add an OpenStack Connection 24

25 Fill out the following Add Connection dialog with a user-friendly connection name, along with the details for Connection like Endpoint Url, User name, Password and Project Id. 25

26 STEP 6.6: ADD A CONNECTION TO VEEAM You can skip this if you are not planning to enable Backup Feature for your tenants. Navigate to the Veeam tab within Connections tab and then click Add Connection to add a Veeam Connection 26

27 Fill out the following Add Connection dialog with a user-friendly connection name, along with the Veeam server details. If you have default WMI ports, then do not select USE HTTPS FOR WMI and enter 5985 for POWERSHELL WMI PORT. If you have configured HTTPS only, then select USE HTTPS FOR WMI and enter the default WMI HTTPS Port 5986 (or the specific port you have configured). 27

28 Select the respective backup features in Step

29 When Hyper-V backups for VM Cloud is enabled, additional step will be shown for System Center settings. 29

30 STEP 6.7: ADD A CONNECTION TO COMMVAULT (Note: Currently supports VMware Backups alone) You can skip this if you are not planning to enable Backup Feature for your tenants. Navigate to the Commvault tab within Connections tab and then click Add Connection to add a Commvault Connection 30

31 Fill out the following Add Connection dialog with a user-friendly connection name, along with the Commvault server details. Storage Policies will be automatically loaded. Select a storage policy. 31

32 STEP 6.8: ADD A CUSTOM CONNECTION You can skip this if you are not planning to enable Service Requests for your tenants. Navigate to the Custom tab within Connections tab and then click Add Connection to add a Custom Connection 32

33 Fill out the following Add Connection dialog with a user-friendly connection name. Click on Add Parameter to add custom parameter required for the connection. 33

34 Once the connection is created, drill down the connection and add Custom Command. Provide Command Name, script path. Select type as Service Request. If the request needs to be approved by WAP Admin/Tenant Admin choose Approval Required button. 34

35 Step 7: Configure Connection-level Features STEP 7.1: ADD A PARAM SPEC Param Specs enable administrators to define the common customization parameters of template and provide default values which can be used across all the vm templates. Navigate to VM Param Specs tab, and click Add to add a new param spec: 35

36 1. After clicking Add, in the resulting dialog provide the required details: 36

37 2. Click next step and provide the values for required parameters 3. VConnect also enables creating a param spec from existing template. Click on Create from existing template? check box. The list of vm templates available in VConnect will be automatically loaded. Select a template to create the spec from the selected template STEP 7.2: ADD A VM TEMPLATE VM Templates enable administrators to define the VM Images to expose to tenant users and configure customization parameters. Drill down a Connection, navigate to VM Templates tab, and click Add to add a new template: 37

38 1. After clicking Add, in the resulting dialog, VConnect will auto-populate the templates to choose from 38

39 After choosing the template, select appropriate OS Platform to set customization options for that platform. Click on Mapped to Param Spec? check box if this template has to be linked to a param spec 2. Click to next step to enter Network Details, including Network Name, Network Adapter Type, IP Mode, and IP Address Pool Name. Specify Storage details and DataStore hint. Parameters that are linked to a param spec will have a blue link icon to the right 39

40 Parameters from param spec can be overridden by providing new value in the template 3. Make sure to Un-Check Is Configurable by Tenant for the following settings: - IPMODE - IP ADDRESS POOL NAME - DATASTOREHINT - AUTOLOGONCOUNT - CHANGESIDE - RUN ONCE COMMANDS - LICENSEMAXCONNECTIONS - LICENSEMODE - PRODUCT KEY And do the same for any other values that should not be overridden by the tenant and provide defaults where possible. 40

41 STEP 7.2: ADD NETWORKS (Note: Applicable only for vcenter, System Center VMM and OpenStack Connections) VConnect allows admin to configure Networks for the tenant users. Navigate to Networks tab in the drill down view of Connections tab and click Configure Networks to add networks to a connection: 41

42 Select the networks and click ok. 42

43 STEP 7.3: ADD DV SWITCH (Note: Applicable for VMware vcenter alone) VConnect allows admin to configure dv Switches in which the tenants can create networks. Navigate to Networks tab in the drill down view of Connections tab and click Configure dv Switch to add Switches to a connection: Select the Switches and click ok. STEP 7.3: ADD IP ADDRESS POOLS (Note: Applicable for the VMware vcenter Virtual machines) VConnect offers built-in IP Address Pool management and allocation. 1. Navigate to IP Pools tab and click ADD. 43

44 2. Enter the IP Address Pool information. 44

45 3. Click to next step and enter DNS, WINS list and IP Address Ranges to be used for this Pool. STEP 7.4: ADD CUSTOM COMMANDS Custom Commands provides the ability for the administrator to define any new functionality for the tenant users. 1. Navigate to Connections Tab in Admin Portal, drill down on a connection -> Commands and click on Add 45

46 2. Navigate to: C:\inetpub\MgmtSvc-CloudAssert-VConnect\commands\VCenter\custom in machine where VConnect API service is installed and in that folder place the script that needs to be executed whenever the command is invoked by the end user 46

47 3. Enter the command Name, provide the path of the script and select type as Script 4. Select the new command added and drill down to add parameters 47

48 5. Click on Add new parameter to define new parameter to get additional input from users. 6. Enter the details and click ok 48

49 7. The parameter will be added. Click on Save. Now the added command appears in the Virtual Machine tab when selecting a VM, which can be executed. Custom Commands can also be imported and exported as.zip archives using the Import and Export command options. 49

50 Step 8: Create a Plan to Offer VConnect as a Service Create or update a plan to include VConnect Service. Configure quotas to limit Virtual Machine usage for subscriptions by editing the plan settings and click on VConnect service shown under Plan Services. 1. Select the Services of VConnect for a plan 50

51 2. Select the connections for the plan 51

52 Once the connection is selected click on Configure to configure the settings for the connection. In the dialog, select the allowed VM Templates, Networks and Backup for the plan. This allows to assign different VM templates, networks across plans. 52

53 53

54 ROOT FOLDER PATH FOR VCENTER: VConnect will create tenant folders under the vcenter Datacenter root. To modify this, provide a root folder path. This root folder path is case sensitive, so ensure that it exactly matches with the name in vcenter Datacenter. (Note: Applicable only for VMware) 3. Set the desired quota 54

55 4. Select the allowed tenant operations and click on save 55

56 Step 9: Test Creating a Subscription with VConnect Visit tenant portal, click New My Account and add a subscription: 56

57 1. Select the plan with VConnect Service: 2. Visit VConnect Service Tab 57

58 3. Create a Resource Group Resource Groups feature enables managing VMs as groups, and provide fine grain Access Control. For instance, Tenant users can group and manage a set of VMs under logical Groups such as Test, Production, Staging, etc. Tenant Subscription Administrators can use Resource Group Access Control feature to enable finer grain access (e.g., Owner, Contributor, Reader) for Subscription Co-Administrators. By default, subscription co-admins can perform all operations on a subscription. However, with Access Control, Tenant subscription admin can restrict access to a particular Co-Admin to Reader i.e., they cannot create / delete / reconfigure VMs. Not only access control can be assigned to specific co-admin users, also roles can be assigned to Active Directory groups to which co-admins belong. Navigate to the Resource Group tab and Click on the create button 58

59 Fill in the required details of the Resource Group in the Create Dialog Access control can be specified for Users for a particular resource group in the Access control tab of the Resource group drill down page. 59

60 To provide access to a co-admin, click on Add button. Provide the User Id, select the Identity Type as User and select the required access To provide access to Active Directory groups to which co-admins belong, provide the Active Directory Group, select the IdentityType as Role and select the required access 60

61 Note: This will work with AD security groups that are of type Global or Universal. Domain Local security groups are not supported by default To provide access control to custom user groups, user groups feature can be used. Navigate to User Groups Tab and click on Add. Select subscription and provide a group name. 61

62 Select the list of users from next step and click ok. 4. Click on Create a Virtual Machine Select a Subscription, Resource Group and Connection. Follow the steps to fill the required settings. After selecting a template, based on the template defined by the administrator, VConnect will show additional screens to provide customization settings. 62

63 The tenants can choose one among the configured Networks If everything is setup correctly, VM will be created successfully. If you run into any errors, check the error message and double check the setup and configuration above. The Deployment details of a particular VM is available in the Service Requests -> Jobs tab. 63

64 On navigating to the Jobs drill down page, the Operations details are available. The Virtual machines in a particular resource group can be found in the resource group drill down page. 64

65 For Azure VMs the related Azure Resources can be seen in Azure Resource Mgmt. 65

66 Step 10: Creating a Resource Template and Deploy Resource Templates can be used to deploy virtual machines in bulk. Different roles of VM and multiple instances of a role can be deployed across all platforms. 1. Create a Resource Template and Deploy virtual machines from a particular Resource Template Navigate to the Resource Template tab and click on the Add button to create a Resource Template Select the Subscription in which the Resource Template needs to be created 66

67 Fill in the details in the create wizard with the name of the role and also select the template Complete the Customization steps for each of the Role 67

68 2. Click on the Deploy button in the bottom of Resource Template Tab and select the Resource Template to deploy it. Complete the Customization steps in the Deployment wizard for each of the roles. 68

69 3. Clone the Resource template by clicking on the Clone button. 69

70 Step 11: Creating a Tenant Networks 1. Create Tenant Networks and assign it to the virtual machine while creating (Note: Applicable only for VMware and System Center VMM) Navigate to the Networks tab and click on the Create button Select the Subscription and Connection for which the Network needs to be created. 70

71 Create VMware Network by selecting a Switch, Specifying the Name and the Number of ports Create SPF Network by specifying the Name, Logical network, Subnet mask, Starting IP and Number of IP Addresses 71

72 2. The created tenant network will be available in the Networks dropdown and can be assigned to the virtual machine while creating 72

73 Step 12: Onboard Existing VMs via Admin Sync (Note: Applicable only for VMware, Azure and SPF) VConnect can sync existing VMs from vsphere, Azure and SPF to the appropriate WAP Tenant Subscriptions. This functionality is provided for administrators in the VConnect WAP Admin Portal via Sync command. - In order to sync the VMs automatically, administrator has to prepare the vcenter environment before clicking Sync - Let the Tenant users sign up for VConnect plan / subscription - Tenant s subscription ID can be obtained from the WAP Admin Portal VMWare: - Step 1: If there is no Folder/resource pool created already in vcenter for the tenant user (if the tenant has never created a VM, this might happen), then create a Folder/Resource Pool manually in vsphere for the user in the format of username:wapsubscriptionid. For example: customer@contoso.com:6abcdddabbba-ccc-acaa deffff. - Ensure to set the correct Resource Pool quotas for the Tenant when creating it manually in vsphere. 73

74 - Step 2: Move the VMs you want to associate with this tenant user under this Folder/Resource Pool - Step 3: Click Sync Connection from the Admin Portal VConnect Connections. Azure: - Step 1: If there is no Resource Group created already in Azure for the tenant user (if the tenant has never created a VM, this might happen), then create a Resource Group manually in Azure for the user in the format of WAPSubscriptionID-Defaultlocation. For example: 6abcddda-bbba-ccc-acaa deffff- WestUS. - Default location can be obtained from the connection - Step 2: Move the VMs you want to associate with this tenant user under this Resource Group along with the resources associated with it. - Step 3: Click Sync Connection from the Admin Portal VConnect Connections. SPF: - Step 1: If there is no UserRole created already in VMM for the tenant user (if the tenant has never created a VM, this might happen), then create a UserRole manually in VMM for the user in the format of username _WAPSubscriptionID. For example: customer@contoso.com_6abcddda-bbba-ccc-acaa deffff. - Step 2: Select the VMs you want to associate with this tenant user and add this UserRole to the Access. - Step 3: Click Sync Connection from the Admin Portal VConnect Connections. 74

75 - Note that this is an asynchronous process and there is no notification about the number of VMS imported. If everything goes well, you will see that the existing VMs appear under tenant users subscriptions. OTHER CONFIGURABLE SETTINGS IN THE APPSETTINGS TABLE There are also other configurable settings in VConnect which are used for other functionalities. Key Values Default Functionality Applicable Platforms IsAutoSyncSubscriptionAssets True/False False Enables the Auto Syncing of VMs vcenter, Azure and SPF AutoRemoveNotFoundVMs True/False False Removes the not vcenter found VMs in vsphere from the portal automatically IsDisableTenantVMCreation True/False False Global setting to All Disable/ Enable VM Creation by Tenant IsCreateResourcePoolPerTenant True/False True Create a Separate Resource Pool for each Tenant vcenter CustomPropertiesToDisplay Properties of VM to Display in the UI Description, Expiration Displaying of columns in the UI based on Custom Attributes in vsphere DeploymentsRetentionPeriodDays Number 90 Number of Days after which the Deployments are removed NewDeploymentsCheckIntervalSeconds Number 30 Seconds in between the New Deployments OperationRetryWaitTimeSeconds Number 60 The wait time for Retry in Seconds OperationAsyncCheckWaitTimeSeconds Number 30 Async Operation wait time in Seconds OperationExectionTimeoutHours Number 6 Time out for Operation execution in Hours vcenter All All All All All 75

76 IsDeleteVMsOnSubscriptionDelete True/False False Deletes the VMs associated to the subscription IsHideVMNameInputFieldForTenants True/False False Hide/ Un Hides the VM Name while creating the VM in the tenant site IsComputeInstanceSliderEnabled True/False False Enable/Disable Slider for Compute Instances MemorySliderIncrementValue Number 256 Increment value for the Memory Slider in Configure Tab MemorySliderMinimumValue Number 256 Minimum value for the Memory Slider in Configure Tab IsHideTenantResourceGroupTab True/False False Hide/ Unhide the Resource Groups Tab in the tenant site IsHideTenantResourceTemplateTab True/False False Hide/ Unhide the Resource Template Tab in the tenant site IsHideTenantDeploymentsTab True/False False Hide/ Unhide the Deployments tab in the tenant site IsUseUtcTimeZone True/False True Display time in UTC/ Local time zone IsUse24HrTimeFormat True/False False Display time in 24 or 12 Hr format All All vcenter vcenter vcenter All All All All All 76

77 ADVANCED CUSTOMIZATIONS VConnect has following customization and extension options for advanced scenarios: 1. Customize Operation Template 2. Write your own Custom Operation in PowerShell 3. Write your own Custom Operation in.net 4. Customize VConnect Scriptlets Refer to the following artifacts for more information on how to leverage these features: VConnect Customization Guide VConnect Customization Script Samples 77

78 VCONNECT UPDATE 9.3 RELEASE NOTES VConnect Update 9.3 release introduces OpenStack and Commvault integration along with several other improvements. Feature Highlights Refer to the table below for a summary of the key features and to get a glimpse of the other key improvements made to the overall VConnect solution for WAP in the April 207 release. Tenant Scenarios In VConnect Admin Scenarios In VConnect OpenStack Management In VConnect Creating Custom User Groups for Access Control Bulk VM provisioning using Deployment Request VM Template parametersremote validation and drop down sources Policies for connection Custom Connection for Service Requests Create an OpenStack connection Create Templates Configure Networks Create Virtual Machines Plan level Improvements In VConnect Commvault Backups In VConnect Backup Feature Improvements In VConnect Enabling filtering of VM templates and Networks at plan level Custom commands restriction for tenants Create a Commvault connection Create backup for VMware VMs Edit/Delete Schedule Restore the VM Manage Veeam integrations as Connections within VConnect Supporting multiple Veeam connections Specify Veeam repository as part of a Veeam Connection, to indicate where the backups should be created Service Request Extension In VConnect Backups Extension In VConnect (For vcenter and System Center) Other Improvements In VConnect Service Requests extension can be installed separately without VConnect tenant extension Improvements in Backup extension to view subscription based schedules and respective restore points Made datastore computation logic for VMware VMs a configurable one Custom Properties for SPF Virtual Machines in VM Grid Providing DatastoreCluster a configurable parameter for vcenter VM template Enabling disk usage records generation for VMs 78

79 SUMMARY OF THE KEY FEATURES AND THEIR AVAILABILITY FOR EACH PLATFORM Platform vcenter SPF Azure AWS OpenStack Portal Key Feature Availability Admin Portal Add, Edit, Delete Connection Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Sync Connection Yes Yes Yes No No Force Delete Yes Yes No Yes No Configure Networks Yes Yes No No Yes Configure dvswitch Yes NA NA NA NA Custom Commands Yes Yes Yes Yes No VM Templates Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes View DataStores Yes NA NA NA NA Assign Static IP Pool from the VConnect IP Pools Yes No No No No Param Spec Yes Yes Yes Yes No VM RDP Connect Console No No No No No Desktop Yes Yes Yes Yes No VM Power Ops Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ScreenShot Yes No No No No Delete VM Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes View Deployments Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Retry Deployment Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 79

80 Force Retry Op Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Resource Template Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes License Quota MaxHostCount Yes Yes No No No MaxHostCpuCount Yes Yes No No No MaxVMCount Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes License Type Trial Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Perpetual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Timebound Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Customize Operation Template Usage Reporting Yes Yes No No No CPU Yes Yes Yes Yes No Memory Yes Yes Yes Yes No Disk Yes Yes Yes Yes No Tenant Portal Network No No No No No Create Virtual Machine Reconfigure Virtual Machine Hot Add CPU/ Memory Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes NA NA NA NA Tenant Networks Create/Edit/Delete Assign Tenant Network to a Virtual Machine Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No VM Power Ops Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 80

81 Screenshot Yes No No No No VM RDP Connect Console No No No No No Desktop Yes Yes Yes Yes No Delete VM Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Create Backups Yes Yes No No No Restore Backup Yes Yes No No No Snapshots Yes No No No No View Disks Yes Yes Yes Yes No Virtual Disks Add, Expand, Delete Yes Yes Yes Yes No Custom Commands Yes Yes Yes Yes No Resource Group Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Resource Templates Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes View Deployments Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Performance Metrics Graph View Networks attached to VM Yes No No No No Yes Yes No No No Upgrade Install Instructions a. Pre-install Steps i. IMPORTANT: Take Backup of all scripts and VConnect Install Folders ii. IMPORTANT: Take backup of the VConnect DB and Snapshots of VConnect VMs iii. (If you have used this file): Keep a backup copy of the FinalizeVMName PowerShell script (under inetpub\mgmtsvc-cloudassert-vconnect folder) to be backed up prior to install, as it will be overwritten during the installation process. b. Install the latest MSIs using the URLs given above c. Post-install Steps i. Resource Provider Authentication Settings: 81

82 o Update the hashed value of the Password in the web.config file by following the step ii. Copy the backed up version of the FinalizeVMName PowerShell script onto the inetpub\mgmtsvc-cloudassert-vconnect folder. d. Other Considerations: i. Recommended Settings for VM Templates in vcenter ii. VM Root Folder Setting: If an existing Plan is updated with a new VM Root Folder path, move the existing VMs into the new folder path and initiate Sync for the associated connections from VConnect Admin Connections Tab. TROUBLESHOOTING Contact support@cloudassert.com for general support help. Visit to get latest updated information about the product. 82

83 APPENDIX A: VConnect API Service Pre-requisites IIS and sub-features installation Users can install the required features either manually using Server manager or using PowerShell with the config xml we provide Install using PowerShell Note: Compatible with Windows Server 2012 R2 1. Download the IISConfigTemplate.zip file 2. Extract the content and copy the IISConfigTemplate.xml to a folder 3. Run the below Power Shell command to configure the IIS Install-WindowsFeature -ConfigurationFilePath <Replace with xml path> Ex: Install-WindowsFeature -ConfigurationFilePath D:\ConfigurationFiles\IISConfigTemplate.xml Install manually using Server Manager 1. Under Manage menu, select Add Roles and Features: 83

84 2. Select Role-based or feature-based installation: 3. Select the appropriate server (local is selected by default), as shown below: 84

85 4. Select Web Server (IIS) and click Next: 5. Select all the features that are selected in the following images. 6. Click Next and enable the following roles. 85

86 86

87 87

88 Click Next and click Install: When the IIS installation completes, the wizard reflects the installation status: Click Close to exit the wizard. 88

89 Installing ASP.NET MVC 4 1. Download the installer from the following link Install the downloaded installer. 89

90 APPENDIX B: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q. Can we customize Compute Instances? A. Yes, the pre-defined Compute Instances can be modified by manually editing the dbo.computeinstances table in the VConnect SQL Server Database. Q. Is it possible to automatically select an IP from an IP Pool based on the network name selected? A. Yes, this feature has been implemented in the latest VConnect release. You will need to create IP pools and configure Static IP mode in the VM template or during VM creation. VConnect uses the VM network name to find a matching IP Pool by doing an Exact Name search, followed by a Starts with search, and then a Contains search. Therefore, the following combinations will work: VM Network Name Vlan123 Vlan123 Vlan123 IP Pool Name Vlan123 Vlan123 Pool My Vlan123 Pool Q. When we create and run a custom command, which user account does this script run as? A. The custom commands execute using the user account specified in the vsphere PowerShell Execution Settings section of the VConnect Settings page in the Admin Portal. Q. Will there be an issue if we install VConnect or Usage & Billing as a highly available solution? A. For VConnect API and Usage & Billing API configure Load Balancer to have Client IP based affinity. The following is a typical architecture for a distributed setup of VConnect and Usage and Billing solutions. 1. Two VMs behind Load Balancer for API services. VConnect and Usage & Billing API services can coexist in these same VMs. 2. One VM for Usage & Billing Agent Service. Temporary restarts of this VM is tolerated and the agent continues processing where it left. You could have the agent service installed and configured on another VM, if you really want a stand by, but have the Service in stopped state. Q. Do we need to install "CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.Service.Setup.msi" on the server hosting the WAP tenant portal or only the server hosting the WAP admin portal? A. Not necessary to host on WAP tenant portal. VConnect API Service (i.e., CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.Service.Setup.msi) can co-exist with other WAP Portal components, for example you can install it on the same machine as WAP Admin-Site Portal or you can choose to install it on a separate machine with following configuration: 90

91 1. Choose a machine with at least 4 GB RAM, preferably 8 GB 2. Ensure that this machine can talk to the SQL database server on which the VConnect database will be configured Q. Is it possible to run VConnect with WAP, but without VMM/SPF if we want to use the Portal for only? A. Yes. VConnect does not depend on VMM/SPM. If you have Windows Server 2012 with Azure Pack installed, that will suffice to get VConnect setup and integrated with VMware vcenter. Q. To configure VConnect service connection user/password, I generated hash by using vconnect.exe utility on one server and pasted returned value in web.config file on both servers: is it the correct way to proceed? A. Yes, Correct. Q. I have VConnect service as highly available deployment and PowerCLI co-located on same servers so what is the best way to configure PowerShell Execution Settings? A. Configure the Server Name as localhost. Q. What is the preferred DB size? A. We recommend to setting the DB Size to Auto Grow. Q. How to make the WAP Admin/ Tenant Portal Highly available? A. Users can use NLB to make WAP Admin/ Tenant Portal (and VConnect Extension) highly available Q. How to make VMware PowerCLI highly available? A. Users can achieve high availability by installing the PowerCLI on every node that has VConnect Service installed. Q. Is it mandatory that Clusters that will be configured with VConnect must have DRS turned on in vcenter? A. Yes, it is mandatory. Q. Is it recommended or mandatory to ensure that VM Templates in the vcenter environment used for VM provisioning through VConnect, are created with only 1 core per socket and 1 CPU? A. This is recommended for VM Templates in vcenter. Q. How do we modify or add text to the description and expiration for a VM? A. These are fields queried directly from vcenter, (not settable by tenants for now). You can do this via adding annotation attributes in vsphere as follows or add a step in VM Provisioning operation template to set these when a new VM is created based on certain VM template parameters: 91

92 Q. Can we make more than one pool available for the user choice (change text box to select box)? A. This can be achieved using the following steps: 1) Drill down the template and select the parameter and click Edit Parameter 2) Modify the type from Textbox to Selectbox and save it. 92

93 3) Select the parameter and click Edit Options List 4) Provide the values for the PoolName 5) IpPool Names available as select box for the tenant 93

94 Q. How to customize network for the templates? A. The Admins can select the list of networks for the tenants as part of Networks settings in Connections tab. The Tenants on the other hand can choose one of the networks while provisioning the VM. Q. How can I set up name for Linux VM (means name guest OS, not a VM)? A. When creating a new VConnect template the parameters NamingScheme and NamingPrefix are available to support this. NamingScheme: The valid values are Custom, Fixed, Prefix, Vm Custom - Specifies that vcenter Server will launch an external application to generate the (hostname/ip) Fixed - Specifies that the name is fixed (Name has to be provided in NamingPrefix) Prefix - Specifies that a unique name should be generated by concatenating the base string with a number Vm - Specifies that vcenter Server should generate a virtual machine name from a base prefix comprising the virtual machine entity name. A number is appended, if necessary, to make it unique. NamingPrefix: Depends on the naming scheme If the "Custom" naming scheme is used, NamingPrefix is an optional argument that is passed to the utility for this IP address. If the "Fixed" naming scheme is used, NamingPrefix should indicate the name of the VM. If the "Prefix" naming scheme is selected, NamingPrefix indicates the prefix to which a unique number is appended. For your specific scenario, the NamingScheme should be set to Custom and NamingPrefix should be set to the name of the guest OS. Q. How to add and work with advanced parameters? A. Refer to this blog article for details. 94

95 Q. Is it possible to set up new user or change password for root in Linux VM? A. Yes. Refer to this blog article for details. Q. In the WAP, IP of the VMs are not always displayed in VConnect? A. IP address of the VMs are displayed in the VM dashboard page in Tenant portal. If you do not see the IP address, it could potentially mean that VMware Tools are not running, or that the VMware tools are just getting the IP address setup for the new VM provisioned; so if you wait a few moments, the IP address should show up fine. Q. After migrating VM between some ESXi nodes, we have got missing status of VM in the portal. All nodes have the same settings. A. VConnect creates VMs by default in a folder specific to the user s subscription under the root directory of the datacenter associated to the connection. If you move the VM from this default location to another location, then the Tenant portal will display missing status. If you are referring to a different scenario, we can have a phone call to understand it better. Q. Are updates to new version will be available even after ending of support time? A. Yes. The VConnect perpetual license includes free upgrades and support for the first year. For the second year and beyond, users may purchase yearly support and upgrades for ~ 18% of the license price. Q. Can we console connect to the VM? A. If it is only about providing a URL to launch from the WAP portal can be done via Custom Commands. Please install VMRC standalone client The script for Console connect using VMRC standalone client can be downloaded from here. You can import this as a custom command in the Admin Portal VConnect Connections Select one of the vcenter connections Commands page. For security reasons, you should use the vsphere web client to manually create a user account and grant console access permissions to the VM folder for your respective tenant users. This way, each tenant will have access to only their VMs and not the others. In the upcoming release, we are working to automate the granting of permissions and access so that you do not have to manual restrict permissions for each tenant user. You can refer to the instructions below on how to give VM folder level permissions to a specific user account. 1. Login to vsphere web client and connect to vcenter server as an administrator 2. Go to Administration Users and Groups and create new User (refer screenshot below) 95

96 3. Go to Administration Roles and create new Role called ConsoleUserRole and enable only the Virtual Machine Interaction Console interaction privilege (refer screenshot below) 96

97 4. Select the VM folder specific to a user (these will be folders in <user id>:<subscription guid> format). Right click the folder and click Add Permission. Then select the user account by clicking Add button in Users and Groups section. Then select ConsoleUserRole role from the Assigned Role section (refer screenshot below). Then click OK button to confirm the role assignment. Now the command can be executed from the portal which opens the console in VMRC. Q. Can we use our licenses that we will buy for VMware for OpenStack? A. OpenStack licensing model is yet to be finalized. However, if user purchase VConnect, then as an existing customer and as an early adopter, we will give them a special discounted offer for OpenStack when it is available. Q. During VM creation the first entry in the deployment task (Deployment Operations Drilldown View) is like 1581 Create Resource Pool Completed 3/25/ :01:10 AM 100 Operation Skipped. So this is normal or not? Should any resource pool create during installation at all? A. What you are seeing is normal. We used to always create Resource Pool per WAP subscription but now we have made it optional and turned it off by default (so it skips always now). We started leveraging VM Folders instead of need to create resources pool per WAP tenant. Q. How we can mount an ISO file to deployed VM? A. If you like to provide this as an option to your tenant users, you can create a Custom Command to accomplish it, we have created one for you. You can Import the custom command sample using the following steps: 97