VMware offers a cloud computing platform and infrastructure. Using the same approach as purblic cloud providers, you can enter your account details into Buttonwood Cloud Broker to analyse all of your cloud instances through the one reporting platform
The VMware plugin allows you to build true hybrid cloud blueprints. Model on-premise applications that leverage the power of native cloud services. Catalogue existing VMs and allocate to Cost Centres for chargeback/showback.
Plugin Features
The following table lists the features provided by this plugin.
Feature | Description |
Accounts |
Ability to add VMware vSphere as a cloud provider Refer to the article Managing Service Provider Accounts |
Blueprint Nodes |
vSphere specific nodes appear in the blueprint canvas Refer to the article Blueprint Composer Nodes - VMware vSphere |
Enabling the Plugin
- Log in to the Broker UI as an administrative user
- Navigate to Admin > Plugins
- Locate the VMware plugin tile - this appears under the Cloud Providers section
- If not already enabled, click the ellipses and select Enable
Note: The plugin may be enabled in a warning state if there are no provider accounts created - this is expected if this is the first time the plugin has been enabled - If required, add VMware vSphere accounts
- Click the VMware plugin tile
Settings
The Settings tab lists the configuration parameters for the plugin.
The following table lists the available parameters and their functions.
Section | Setting | Description |
Advanced | Windows Remote Access Protocol |
The selected method of managing deployed Windows virtual machine instances. Default: SSH |
Named Networks
Named Networks allows friendly names to be assigned to a network mappings.
As port groups are unique to each VMware vSphere data centre, named networks are mapped to port groups within a data centre, allowing the flexibility of using a single blueprint to be deployed across multiple environments. Using Named Networks also allows virtual machine instances within a blueprint to be attached to multiple port groups.
Where a blueprint doesn't use Named Networks, a default Named Network always exists where instances are deployed.
The following management operations are available for Named Networks:
- Add
- Edit
- Remove
Note: The default Named Network can be edited but not removed
Example
In this example, the following two Named Networks have been created, which are in addition to the default Named Network:
- App Servers
- DB Servers
The network mappings for this Data Center have been updated so that:
- Any virtual machine instance not attached to a Named Network will be deployed into the dv_152 port group of the vSwitch
- Any virtual machine instance attached to the App Servers Named Network will be deployed into the dv_170 port group of the vSwitch
- Any virtual machine instance attached to the DB Servers Named Network will be deployed into the dv_152 port group of the vSwitch
The blueprint is designed to deploy two Windows VMs - one of which can now be attached to the App Servers Named Network, and the other attached to the DB Servers Named Network.
Name Generation
Name Generators are templates which control how deployed resources are named. Refer to the article Managing Name Generators for more information and detailed steps in managing Name Generators.
The following resource types are supported by Name Generators for VMware vSphere:
- Virtual Machines
- Linux
- Windows
Click the View button to review and select the Name Generator to use for the selected resource type.
The <DEFAULT> naming of resources uses the following template for name generation:
D${Deployment.id}-${Node.name}
Customization Specifications
Customization Specifications is a VMware feature which stores guest operating system configuration settings and applied to a virtual machines on deployment.
Contained within a customization specification are settings such as:
- Registration information
- Windows license key
- Time zone information
Refer to the VMware documentation for the relevant version of VMware vSphere for more information on customization specifications.
Example
In this example, the following customization specification has been created and made available within the blueprint composer:
- Windows Custom Spec
A blueprint is designed to deploy a single Windows virtual machine, with a customization specification node dragged into the OS image node.
The customization specification node is configured to use Windows Custom Spec.