VCAP6-CMA Deploy - Objective 4.3: Manage Custom Properties and Build Profiles
VMware vRealize Automation VCAP6 VCAP6-CMA
Published on 7 February 2017 by Christopher Lewis. Words: 701. Reading Time: 4 mins.
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Objective Overview
Objective 4.3 - Manage Custom Properties and Build Profiles
- Add / edit Custom Properties to add new attributes or override default attributes.
- Create a Build Profile according to Custom Properties from a deployment plan.
- Use Property Dictionary to define new Custom Properties.
Custom Properties - Overview
When using a Custom Property it is important to understand the Order of Precedence:
- Build profile
- Blueprint
- Business group
- Compute resource
- Reservations
- Endpoint
- Runtime
What this means is that if the same Custom Property is specified at a different levels, the highest (1 being lowest) level wins. (i.e. a value set in a Build Profile can be overridden in the Blueprint, but also the Blueprint value can be overridden at runtime.)
Objective Prerequisites
The following prerequisites are assumed for this Objective:
- A full deployed vRealize Automation 6.x solution (minimal or distributed).
Objective Breakdown
Add / edit Custom Properties to add new attributes or override default attributes.
In this example, we’re going to add some simple custom properties to override the default attributes of a Windows Blueprint/Machine by asking the user to enter a hostname and IP address at request time.
Navigate to the vRealize Automation Portal (https://vra.fqdn/vcac
)
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Log in with a user that has the Tenant Administrator role assigned and then navigate to Infrastructure > Blueprints > Blueprints.
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Click on the Blueprint you want to update.
Note: I’m going to update the Windows Server 2012 one
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Click the Properties tab.
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Click New Property.
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Enter hostname
into the Name text box, leave the Value text box clear and check the Prompt User checkbox and click Save.
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Click New Property.
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Enter VirtualMachine.Network0.Address
into the Name text box, leave the Value text box clear and check the Prompt User checkbox and click Save.
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Click OK.
When you log in as a Business User and request a Catalog Item you will see the following:
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Create a Build Profile according to Custom Properties from a Deployment Plan.
A Build Profile is a collection of Custom Properties that are commonly used together. The creation of a Build Profile is the responsibility of the Fabric Administrator.
In this example, we’re going to create a Build Profile for Windows deployments using the two custom properties from the previous section.
Navigate to the vRealize Automation Portal for the Default Tenant (https://vra.fqdn/vcac
).
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Login with an account that has the Fabric Administrator role assigned.
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Click Infrastructure > Blueprints > Build Profiles
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Click New Build Profile.
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Enter the name of the new Build Profile into the Name text box, (optionally) select an appropriate Property Set from the Add from property set drop down and click Load.
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Click New Property.
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Enter VirtualMachine.Network0.Address
into the Name text box, leave the Value text box clear and check the Prompt User checkbox and click Save.
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Click New Property.
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Enter Hostname
into the Name text box, leave the Value text box clear and check the Prompt User checkbox and click Save.
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Click OK.
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Use Property Dictionary to define new Custom Properties.
The Property Dictionary is used to define Global properties to be used throughout the Tenant. In this example, we’re going to create a “cost centre” Customer Property. Whilst this will not, necessarily, directly impact the delivery of a Machine it can be used to, as an example, update a CMDB.
Navigate to the vRealize Automation Portal for the Default Tenant (https://vra.fqdn/vcac
).
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Login with an account that has the Fabric Administrator role assigned.
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Click Infrastructure > Blueprints > Property Dictionary
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Click New Property Definition.
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Enter a property Name, Display Name, select a Content Type from the dropdown,(optionally) check the Required checkbox.
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Click Save.
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Note: As this a dropdown, we now need to add the values that can be selected.
Under Property Attributes, click Edit.
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Click New Property Attribute.
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Select ValueList from the Type dropdown, enter a Name (not displayed on UI), a comma separated list of values to be displayed in the dropdown in the Value field and click Save.
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Click OK.
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Now if you add the Company.CostCentre
Custom Property to the Build Profile previously created, the Business User’s request then changes again.
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Note: There is plenty more that can be accomplished with the Property Dictionary such as establishing relationships between Custom Properties to help drive decisions at request time.
Published on 7 February 2017 by Christopher Lewis. Words: 701. Reading Time: 4 mins.
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