Configuring BMC Atrium Orchestrator for Amazon EC2

The BMC Atrium Orchestrator components define and support the workflows that enable BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management to communicate with the Amazon cloud. Their installation and configuration are usually one-time tasks of infrastructure configuration.

• • Before you begin
  • To configure the Amazon EC2 integration module
  • To update the Amazon EC2 adapter after installation
  • To activate required modules
  • To update the time-to-live parameter
  • Where to go from here

The BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management installer installs the following BMC Atrium Orchestrator components:

• BMC Atrium Orchestrator Server (includes the Access Manager and Repository)
• BMC Content Installer (to upload and install adapters)

You will need to manually install BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio. See Installing-BMC-Atrium-Orchestrator-Development-Studio.

The installer also installs and configures the following adapters:

After the BMC Atrium Orchestrator components are installed, you update configuration parameters in the Amazon_EC2_Integration module.

Before you begin

• Connect your BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio to the Configuration Distribution Peer (CDP). See Connecting-to-an-environment.

• Import the Amazon EC2 integration module

  Click here to expand...

  1. Access the Library Manager view in Development Studio. For more details, see Library-Manager.
  2. In the Library Manager view, select the Import Modules tab.
  3. Select From Repository under the Import Module(s) heading.
  4. If prompted, log into Repository Manager to access the list of available modules.
  5. From the list, click the Import and Unbundle selections next to the Amazon_EC2_Integration (Version 20.12.01.00) entry.
  6. Click Import at the bottom of the Import Module(s) pane.

  When you return to the Designer view, the module is displayed under the grid name in the Project Navigator pane.

To configure the Amazon EC2 integration module

1. In the Project Navigator pane, expand the Amazon EC2 Integration module, and select the Configuration module. The modules's parameters are displayed under the Profile:Configuration tab.
   
   

2. In the Amazon_EC2 module configuration, update the parameters by using the following table as a guide. You must update the Reconciliation_ID parameter. Other updates are optional.
    See Defining-the-physical-location for information on obtaining the Reconciliation_ID.

   Note

   You must click Save after updating each individual configuration parameter value. You cannot save multiple parameter updates simultaneously.

   Parameter	Description
   WSDL_Location	The static URL that points to the location of the EC2 WSDL file. You can use the default value http://s3.amazonaws.com/ec2-downloads/2011-02-28.ec2.wsdl.
   Version	Leave the default value v1.0.
   Label	The default network label to assign to network containers based on EC2 availability zones. The default value is Customer.
   AMI_Variants	An XML-defined list that contains the names of Amazon EC2 instance types (small, large, and so forth), along with the CPU and Memory values associated with each type. The default value is a list of out-of-the-box EC2 instance-types and their corresponding CPU-Memory combinations. Refer to Creating-product-catalog-entries and Setting service offering options.
   AMI_Poll_Count	The number of times that the workflow polls for Amazon EC2 actions such as RunInstances, TerminateInstances, and so forth before it times out. The interval between poll requests is 5 seconds. The default number of poll requests is 60.
   Reconciliation_ID	Required. Enter the reconciliation ID value from the ReconciliationIdentity field of the Amazon EC2 physical location instance you've defined in the BMC_Physical Location form. See Defining-the-physical-location.

   Important

   The Credential_Store group contains the name of the BMC Remedy Adapter used to access the Amazon EC2 credentials store in enterprise BMC Remedy AR System server. The default value is ARSAdapter, which the installation program assigns to the Remedy actor adapter during its configuration. If you manually configure the Remedy actor adapter, BMC recommends that you use the same name (ARSAdapter) in Grid Manager.

3. Click Save.
4. Export the updated module to the Repository Manager.
   1. In Development Studio, access the Library Manager > Export Modules view to display the modules that are available for export.
   2. Under Export Module(s), click Export next to the Amazon_EC2_Integration entry, and select the version and revision from the Version drop-down list, or enter a new version number.
   3. Click Export to Repository.
5. In Grid Manager, access the Manage > Modules tab to display the list of Modules in Repository and the list of modules that are activated on the Grid. The list of Modules in Repository should include the latest version and revision of the Amazon_EC2_Integration module that you have exported.
6. In the Activated on Grid list, select the currently active version and revision of Amazon_EC2_Integration, and click Deactivate.
7. In the list of Modules in Repository, select the latest version and revision of the Amazon_EC2_Integration module, and click Activate. The latest revision is then listed as Activated on Grid.

To update the Amazon EC2 adapter after installation

Be sure that you have synchronized the system clocks on all BMC Atrium Orchestrator servers so that they are operating at the correct time.

The BMC Atrium Orchestrator peer on which the adapter is enabled must have correct clock settings because the Amazon Web Service uses timestamp security in SOAP requests. SOAP requests are valid only for a specific time frame to avoid replay attacks. A SOAP request's validity is also controlled by the time-to-live adapter configuration parameter, which, if set to 60, means that the request is valid for one minute only from the current time on the peer. However, if the clock settings on the peer are not in sync with the standard time server, you might receive the following error message: Request has expired

Review the time-to-live parameter setting by following these guidelines:

• By default, the Amazon EC2 adapter can handle a time difference of 60 seconds.
• Assuming that the time setting of all BMC Atrium Orchestrator servers is synchronized, you can use network speed as the main factor in setting a time-to-live parameter value.
• If you notice slow response times in your deployment, you might consider setting the time-to-live value greater than the default 60 seconds.

To activate required modules

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management installs modules that you must integrate with BMC Atrium Orchestrator.

1. Log on to Grid Manager at http://hostname:28080/baocdp.
2. Select Manage > Modules.
3. From the Modules in Repository list, select the following modules:
   • AMP-AD-BMC-Remedy-ARS
   • AO-AD-Amazon_EC2
4. Click Activate.
    When you refresh the screen, the modules are displayed in the activated modules list.

To update the time-to-live parameter

1. Access Grid Manager, and go to the Manage tab.
2. In the Adapters on Grid table, click the Amazon EC2 Adapter entry to open its configuration file.
3. Add the <time-to-live> parameter and assign it a corresponding value:
   
   
4. Click OK.

Where to go from here

Using your BMC Atrium Orchestrator data, define your Amazon EC2 provider type.