Today marks the end of another certification journey. After taking the exam Wednesday afternoon, I received notification this morning that I passed the 3V0-633 VMware Certified Advanced Professional 6 - Cloud Management and Automation - Deploy Exam.

Note: I am still waiting for Cert Manager to be updated but that should happen in the next 24hrs!

It has been a long and trying road getting this exam in the bag, and I have blogged about my experiences:

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 21, 2017.

VMware vRealize Automation VCAP6 VCAP6-CMA

Objective Overview

Objective 5.3 - Create/Modify/Execute a vRealize Orchestrator Workflow

  • Create/modify/troubleshoot actions
  • Create/modify/execute vRO workflows
  • Install/launch/use the vRO client
  • Configure variable binding in a vRO workflow
  • Perform logging from a vRO workflow
  • Add schema elements to a vRO workflow
  • Run workflow(s) in the vRO HTTP-REST plug-in to invoke a REST operation
  • Modify a workflow to display a non-default icon
  • Create a configuration element
  • Modify a workflow to use to a configuration element

Objective Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are assumed for this Objective:

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 18, 2017.

VMware vRealize Automation vRealize Application Services VCAP6 VCAP6-CMA

So you have deployed and configured the VMware NSX Manager Virtual Appliance, deployed the VMware NSX Controller(s) and goto Host Preparation and click Install to prepare your hosts. Then you get an error message to say you don’t have the right license… did you forget something?

Adding VMware NSX Licensing to vCenter

Note: These steps assume you are not even logged into vCenter Server. Skip the first few steps if you are!

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 17, 2017.

VMware NSX-V VCAP6-NV HOWTO

This is the third of three posts in which we look at how to deploy and configure the VMware NSX Manager.

The posts will cover the following topics:

  1. Deploying the VMware NSX Manager Appliance Appliance. ( HOWTO )
  2. Completing VMware NSX Manager Initial Configuration. ( HOWTO )
  3. Integrating VMware NSX Manager into VMware vCenter. (THIS POST)

Configuring VMware NSX Manager integration into vCenter Server

Using a browser, navigate to the VMware NSX Manager Virtual Appliance (https://nsx-manager.fqdn).

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 16, 2017.

VMware NSX-V VCAP6-NV VCIX6-NV HOWTO

This is the second of three posts in which we look at how to deploy and configure the VMware NSX Manager.

The posts will cover the following topics:

  1. Deploying the VMware NSX Manager Appliance Appliance. ( HOWTO )
  2. Completing VMware NSX Manager Initial Configuration. (THIS POST)
  3. Integrating VMware NSX Manager into VMware vCenter. ( HOWTO )

VMware NSX Manager Initial Configuration

Using a browser, navigate to the VMware NSX Manager Virtual Appliance (https://nsx-manager.fqdn).

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 16, 2017.

VMware NSX-V VCAP6-NV VCIX6-NV HOWTO

This is the first of three posts in which we look at how to deploy and configure the VMware NSX Manager.

The posts will cover the following topics:

  1. Deploying the VMware NSX Manager Appliance. (THIS POST)
  2. Completing VMware NSX Manager Initial Configuration. ( HOWTO
  3. Integrating VMware NSX Manager into VMware vCenter. ( HOWTO )

Deploying the VMware NSX Manager Appliance

Navigate to VMware vCenter Server (https://vcenter.fqdn) using your preferred web browser.

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 16, 2017.

VMware NSX-V VCAP6-NV VCIX6-NV HOWTO

In this series of 3 articles, we’ll be looking at how to configure VMware NSX and VMware vRealize Log Insight together so we get the best possible logging.

In Part Two, we’ll be looking at how to configure the VMware NSX Manager to SYSLOG to VMware vRealize Log Insight.

Configuring the VMware NSX Manager to SYSLOG to Log Insight

Navigate to the VMware NSX Manager Virtual Appliance ( https://nsx-manager.fqdn ).

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 15, 2017.

VMware vRealize Log Insight NSX-V HOWTO

In this series of 3 articles, we’ll be looking at how to configure VMware NSX and vRealize Log Insight together so we get the best possible logging.

In Part One we’ll be looking at How to install the Content Pack for VMware NSX in VMware vRealize Log Insight.

Installing the vLI Content Pack for VMware NSX

Using your browser, navigate to the VMware vRealize Log Insight (https://vli-appliance.fqdn) page.

Enter the User name and Password and click Login.

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 15, 2017.

VMware vRealize Log Insight NSX-V HOWTO

One of the many prerequisites of the VMware vRealize Automation Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) components (including Microsoft SQL Server) is the installation and configuration of Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MS DTC).

Not installing and configuring MS DTC correctly can be the the bane of someone trying to install VMware vRealize Automation.

ProTip 1 - Uninstall MS DTC via PowerShell

MS DTC seems to be installed by default in Windows, but if you have cloned (without Sysprep) the Windows image, then MS DTC will need to be removed (and re-installed). A simple PowerShell command can be used to remove MS DTC:

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 15, 2017.

Microsoft MS-DTC vRealize Automation Pro Tip

VMware vRealize Log Insight is not only available as a standalone product.

The deployment of vRealize Log Insight can be completed in a few easy steps:

  • Deploying the vRealize Log Insight Appliance
  • Configuring the first vRealize Log Insight Appliance
  • (optional) Configuring additional vRealize Log Insight Appliance(s)
  • Configuring vSphere Integration

Deploying the vRealize Log Insight Appliance

Navigate to the VMware vCenter Server Web Client (https://vcenter.fqdn/vsphere-client/) and log in using appropriate credentials.

Written by Christopher Lewis on July 15, 2017.

VMware vRealize Suite vRealize Log Insight HOWTO