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Creating a VGP in BMC Server Automation for a vCenter environment

You can build a repeatable process for deploying new virtual systems by using a virtual guest package (VGP). The VGP describes the new virtual system you want to add.

For example, you can base the VGP on an existing VMware vCenter template or create the VGP using values of your own, if you do not have an existing machine or template on which to base the configuration. Having a base package from which to deploy new virtual machines helps enforce consistency and standards, such as including Antivirus and management software on any new virtual machine.

The following sections describe how to create a VGP in BMC Server Automation:

Before you begin

Review the following sections for requirements and recommendations for creating VGPs.

About the VGP

A VGP bundles configuration changes so they can be deployed to hosts/clusters using a Virtual Guest Job. A VGP consists of an instruction set and any files needed for implementing configuration changes. Configuration changes can consist of additions, deletions, and modifications to any of the server objects BMC supports on all operating systems. This capability allows you to create multiple VGPs, each designed and tailored for a specific use.

Requirements

  • You should create VGPs from virtual machine templates.

    Click here to review the requirements for creating VM templates.

    This section provides an overview of the steps when creating a VM template on VMware vCenter. A VM template is a reusable image created from an existing VM. You use these VM templates when creating a VGP in BMC Server Automation.

    Requirements

    Review the following requirements for VM templates.

    Requirement / Recommendation

    Description

    IPv6 not supported

    When creating templates for BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management, ensure that IPv6 is disabled, as BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management does not support IPv6.

    For information about disabling IPv6, see the following Microsoft support article:

    How to disable IPv6 or its components in Windows

    OS customization support

    Before creating a VM template, ensure that your version of vCenter supports OS Customization for the specified guest OS. See the VMware vSphere online documentation regarding Operating System Compatibility for vCenter Server.

    VMware Tools

    VMware Tools must be installed in all templates. Refer to the VMware online documentation for installation details.

    Microsoft System Preparation (Sysprep) tool 

    VMware vCenter uses the Microsoft System Preparation (Sysprep) tool to automate the deployment of various Microsoft operating systems. Sysprep must be present on the vCenter to support OS Customization for Microsoft Windows. If Sysprep is not present for a specific version of Windows, OS Customization will fail. This in turn causes the VirtualGuest create task to fail.

    Recommendations

    Consider the following recommendations if you have mulitiple VMware vCenters in the deployment (a multi-site deployment, for example):

    • Make sure you have the same VM template names available on all of the vCenters. You can then create Virtual Guest Packages (VGPs) from one vCenter and still provision VMs to other vCenters.
    • To minimize template overhead, it is highly recommended to keep templates as minimal as possible (such as, only OS with optionally an enterprise-based software stack, such as antivirus program).
    Adding a BMC Server Automation agent to the VM template

    Before you use a VM template to create a VGP, use the following procedure to add a BMC Server Automation RSCD agent to the template:

    1. Convert the template to a VM.
    2. Install a BMC Server Automation RSCD agent on the VM (see Installing-only-the-RSCD-agent-Linux-and-UNIX and Installing-an-RSCD-agent-Windows).
    3. From a remote machine, use the BMC Server Automation agentinfo utility to ensure connectivity. Enter the following command:
      agentinfo hostname
      If the agent is not reachable, you may need to disable the firewall on the VM.
    4. Delete the BladeLogicRSCD user before converting the VM to a template.
    5. Convert the VM back to a template.
    Linux VM templates

    Linux VM templates must include the following:

    1. Modify the /etc/rc.d/rc.localscript to ensure successful DNS registration. See the following example for the recommended modification:

      dhcpHostname=`grep "DHCP_HOSTNAME=.*" /etc/sysconfig/network`
      dhcpHostname=`echo "$dhcpHostname" | sed "s/\s*//g"`
      if [ -z "$dhcpHostname" ]; then
      echo "DHCP_HOSTNAME=$HOSTNAME" >> /etc/sysconfig/network
      reboot
      else if [ "DHCP_HOSTNAME=$HOSTNAME" != "$dhcpHostname" ]; then
      sed "s/DHCP_HOSTNAME=.*/DHCP_HOSTNAME=$HOSTNAME/g" /etc/sysconfig/network > /tmp/hostnamechange
      mv /tmp/hostnamechange /etc/sysconfig/network
      reboot
      fi
      fi
    2. Distribute the Unix Users custom object to the BMC Server Automation agent to validate users created on VMs. See the BMC Server Automation online technical documentation for details).

    Note

    For creating VM templates for the SUSE Linux, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and Cent OS platform, a cloud user must create the templates in VMware vCenter with Guest OS as RedHat Linux. BMC Server Automation supports creation of virtual guest package on these templates only.

    Disabling Microsoft Windows 2008 Password complexity checks

    If you do not want the Windows 2008 Password Complexity check enabled on your VMs, disable it in the template. If you do not disable this check, VM creation will fail during the Create User phase if you do not supply a complex password.

    1. Convert your template to a VM.
    2. In the VM, click Start > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy.
    3. Select Security Settings > Account Policies > Password Policy.
    4. Right-click Passwords must meet complexity requirements and then select Properties.
    5. Disable this option.
    6. Log out of the VM and convert it back to a template.
  • Create VGPs in the CSM_Virtual_Guest_Packages folder (under Depot) in the BMC Server Automation Console.
  • To support hostname configuration in the virtual guest, select the Custom option in the VM Config Type Settings tab. For more information, see VMware - Config.
  • To make sure the VMs provisioned using the VGPs can be enrolled in BMC Server Automation successfully, the primary DNS server specified on the BMC Server Automation Application Server should be the same DNS server utilized by the vCenter. Otherwise, BMC Server Automation is forced to wait for DNS propagation before it can communicate with the BMC Server Automation agent on the virtual guest.
  • Ensure that the VGP for bare-metal virtual machines is assigned a larger disk space amount than what is assigned to the system package. Otherwise, the provisioning fails with the somewhat misleading error message OS Not Found.

Recommendations

Consider the following general recommendations for creating VGPs:

  • Do not include any static IP addresses in the configuration of the VGP.
  • Do not include any information that is instance-specific, such as a hard-coded host name.

Consider the following recommendations if you have mulitiple VMware vCenters in the deployment (a multi-site deployment, for example):

  • Make sure you have the same VM template names available on all of the vCenters. You can then create Virtual Guest Packages (VGPs) from one vCenter and still provision VMs to other vCenters.
  • To minimize template overhead, it is highly recommended to keep templates as minimal as possible (such as, only OS with optionally an enterprise-based software stack, such as antivirus program).

To create a VGP for BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

This section describes how to create a VGP manually. Beginning with BMC Server Automation 8.2, you can also create VGPs automatically, using the Virtual Guest Template Enrollment Job. For more information, see the related topic in the BMC Server Automation online technical documentation.

  1. From the Depot folder, right-click the depot folder where you want to add the VGP. From the pop-up menu, select New > Virtual Guest Packageand then the virtualization platform type for the package (VMware, Citrix XenServer, or IBM LPAR).

    Note

    You should create VGPs in the Depot in the CSM_Virtual_Guest_Packages folder.

  2. On the Virtual Guest Package dialog, enter the following:

    Note

    The virtual machine name and the server name are required. However, BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management overrides these values.

  3. Click Next.
  4. On the Permissions panel, enter the permissions for the VGP. The Permissions panel is an access control list granting roles access to this VGP. Access to all objects, including the sharing of objects between roles, is controlled through access control lists (ACLs). Make sure that your role has the VirtualGuestPackage.* permission to create a VGP for a VMware vSphere environment.
  5. Click Finish.
     A dialog displays, indicating that the package is being saved to the Depot.

To modify the VGP

After the VGP is saved, the Virtual Guest Package editor is displayed, enabling you to modify the VGP.

Note

If the VGP is based on a template,  you must select the Customize OS checkbox on the VMware - Config panel.

  1. On each tab in the editor, enter the desired configuration settings for your VGP.

  2. The following panels apply to VMware environments:

    Note

    To support hostname configuration in the virtual guest, select the Custom option in the VM Config Type Settings tab. Note that when you create a VGP from a VM template you are not able to select the Custom option. This option is disabled.

    VMware - Config panel - Click here to see descriptions of the fields

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    VMware - Settings panel - Click here to see descriptions of the fields

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    VMware - Network Connections panel - Click here to see descriptions of the fields

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    VM Basic Config - Microsoft Windows panel - Click here to see descriptions of the fields

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    VM Basic Config - Linux panel - Click here to see descriptions of the fields

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    VM Computer Settings panel - Click here to see descriptions of the fields

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    Run Once Script panel - Click here to see descriptions of the fields

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    Note

    The virtual machine name and the server name are required. However, BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management overrides these values.

  3. Save the package.

    Note

    For bare-metal virtual machines, create multiple VGPs for multiple OS platforms and when pointing your virtual machines to multiple datastores. Also, you need to create multiple VGPs to provide the following options in the configuration of the virtual machine: vCenter datastore location, default CPU value, and default RAM value.

Where to go next

Publishing-the-Product-Catalog

 

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