The vRealize Orchestrator also known as vCenter Orchestrator in the past has been around for quite some time now. I haven’t really cover the topic of automation on my blog, beside the vCloud Suite proof of concept blog series that touched the subject briefly, so I think it is time to have a closer look on how to install and configure vRealize Orchestrator within a vSphere environment. But first, let’s have a look at VMware’s definition of their product.

VMware vRealize Orchestrator simplifies the automation of complex IT tasks and integrates with VMware vCloud Suite components to adapt and extend service delivery and operational management, effectively working with existing infrastructure, tools and processes.

Source: vRealize Orchestrator product page

Please refer to the Installing and Configuring VMware vRealize Orchestrator documentation for key features, architecture and system requirements.

vRealize Orchestrator deployment

There are 2 options available to deploy the vRealize Orchestrator in your environment:

1. vRealize Orchestrator on a 64-bit Windows machine
2. vRealize Orchestrator Appliance

In my case, I went for option 2 which is deploying a vRealize Orchestrator Appliance. The deployment process is quite straight forward as with all appliances from VMware.

1. Download the OVA appliance from My VMware.
2. Log in to the vSphere Web Client as an administrator, navigate to a valid parent object for the new virtual machine, for example a host or a cluster.
3. Select Deploy OVF Template from the Action
4. Browse to the vRO OVA file and click Next.
5. When the OVA is validated, review the details and click Next.
6. Accept EULA and click Next.
7. Select the name and location for the vRO appliance.
8. Next, select a resource where to run the vRO appliance.
9. Select a datastore and the disk format. Optionally, select the VM Storage Policy if you use and. Click Next.
10. On the first network setup page, select the destination network and IP protocol that will be used (IPv4/IPv6).
11. On the second network setup page provide the initial root and orchestrator configuration interface password, hostname for the vRA and the necessary network settings. Click Next.
12. Review the settings and click Finish to start the deployment process. Optionally, select Power on after deployment to power on the vRO appliance.

vRealize Orchestrator configuration

When the newly deployed vRO appliance is powered on, proceed with the initial configuration.

Appliance Configuration

1. Open your web browser and navigate to https://<IP_or_FQDN>:5480 of the vRO appliance and log in with root user credentials.
2. Select the Admin tab and change the root password. Please note that the password for the root account of the vRO appliance expires after 365 days. You can increase the expiry time for an account by logging in to the vRO appliance as root, and running # passwd -x <number_of_days> root. If you want to set the vRO appliance root password to never expire, run the passwd -x 99999 root command.
3. While still on the Admin page, select Time Settings and enter a NTP server address. Click Save Settings.
4. Go to the System tab and set the correct system time zone and remember to save the settings.
5. Log out.

vCenter Server plug-in configuration

1. Open your web browser and navigate to http://<IP_or_FQDN> of the vRO appliance.
2. On the VMware vRealize Orchestrator home page, click Orchestrator Configuration and login in as user vmware and password provided in step 11 during the deployment.
3. Change the password for the vmware user from the Change Password tab on the General pane.
4. Next, you need to install the vCenter Server SSL certificate by selecting the Network section on the left and then selecting the SSL Trust Manager.
5. Enter the URL for the vCenter Server and click Import.
6. Check if the SSL certificate is correct and click Import. The certificate should now appear in the SSL Trust Manager page.
7. Next, select Licensing and check the Use vCenter Server License. Enter the vCenter Server hostname, username and password, and click Apply Changes.
8. Log out.
9. At this point the vRO is ready to use in the vCenter Server. You can verify it by selecting an object in the vCenter Server and expanding the All vRealize Orchestrator plugin action sub-menu.

This concludes the initial basic install and configures vRealize Orchestrator post. I hope to write some more in the near future about vRealize Orchestrator as this tool is used a lot in the cloud deployments.

Cheers

– Marek.Z