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Provisioning VMs on VMware vCenter using Quick Start

Quick Start asks you to provide a limited number of configuration settings for BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management so it can fulfill end user requests for automated provisioning of virtual machines (VMs). When you provide configuration information in Quick Start, you identify existing resources. By deriving information from those resources, Quick Start is able to create the generalized definitions that BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management needs to perform provisioning.

This topic describes the end-to-end vCenter approach in Quick Start. It includes the following sections:

Video demonstration

You can view a video that demonstrates how to use the vCenter approach to configure BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management so it can fulfill end user requests for automated provisioning of VMs.

Click here to view the video and related information.

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Video contents

Time stamp

Topic

Prerequisites

00:30

vCenter connector

01:48

vCenter environment

05:00

vCenter services

06:55

Tenants and users

09:55

Provisioning

11:30

Before you begin

  • Log onto BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management using a cloud administrator account. The cloud administrator must be associated with a provider company. (Click here for details about creating a provider company and a cloud administrator account.) When completing the BMC Remedy AR Systems form for the cloud administrator account, be sure to check Unrestricted Access.

    If you do not use the Cloud Admin template to create the cloud administrator account (the standard approach), create a provider company for the new cloud administrator account and then ensure the account has the following permissions:
    • Cloud Admin
    • Contact Organization Admin

 

High-level steps

5StepVcenterBreadCrumb.png

To access Quick Start, click the vertical Workspaces menu on the left side of the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management Administration Console. Then click Quick Start. The Quick Start welcome page opens. It provides links to wizards that step you through the process of configuring Quick Start.

On the welcome page, two links apply to the vCenter-based provisioning:

After you complete the Quick Start process, users can request VMware VMs using the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management - My Cloud Services Console.

Adding a vCenter connector

5StepAddVcenterConnector.png

In Quick Start, a connector defines a VMware vCenter and a set of shared network resources for the vCenter.

If a failure occurs while adding a vCenter connector, Quick Start automatically rolls back all content.

To add a vCenter connector

  1. On the Quick Start home page, click New VMware Setup.
    This page provides information that lets Quick Start use BMC Server Automation to connect to a vCenter server.newvcenterconnectorHF3.gif
    This page also provides a vertical navigation bar at left, which illustrates where you are in the Quick Start process. 
    NavigationBar.gif 
  2. Complete the Setup Connector page.
    Option
    Description
    vCenter Web Service Protocol
    Select http or https. BMC recommends https.
    vCenter Hostname
    Fully qualified name or IP address of the vCenter server.
    vCenter Web Service Port
    Port number for the web service interface to the VMware vCenter. The port number can be any value between 1 and 9999. 443 is typical.
    User Name
    User name of an administrator for the vCenter server who can access BMC Server Automation. Providing user credentials allows Quick Start to instruct BMC Server Automation to perform certain actions. The user you identify must have a set of minimum privileges on the vCenter server.
    Password
    Password for the administrator of the vCenter server who can access BMC Server Automation.
    Confirm Password
    Re-type the password.
  3. Click Next to display the Network Credentials page.
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  4. Complete the Network Credentials page.
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  5. Click Next to display the Network Pod page.
    The Network Pod page lets you define networks that are shared across all of the environments in a vCenter connector. For instance, many cloud environments share a common management or storage network. Other networks are specific to one environment, such as production or development networks or networks made available to particular tenants. You define environment-specific networks when you add vCenter environments.You are not required to specify a network at the pod level. If you do not specify a network on this page, you must define at least one network when you add a vCenter environment.CreateNetworkPod.gif 
  6. Complete the Network Pod page.
    1. Provide information about the network you are identifying that will be used to create the network pod.
      You are not required to specify a network at the pod level. If you do not specify a network here, you must define at least one network when you add vCenter environments.
      Option
      Description
      [VLAN] Port Group
      A network that should be shared with all environments. For example, a management or storage network.
      Notes
      • A VLAN can only be used in a single connector or environment network.  If you have multiple port groups on the same VLAN, you will only be able to use one of those port groups.
      • Quick Start can only use port groups with a specified VLAN.  Port groups that leverage untagged or native VLANs must be updated to specify the VLAN ID.
      Management
      A flag indicating whether the network is used for management purposes.
      Customer
      A flag indicating the network is used for customer purposes. 
      Network Alias
      An identifying name for the network. Select from the list of typical aliases or enter your own name.
      Gateway
      Address of the IP router that is used to forward traffic to destinations outside of the local network. For example, 10.0.0.1.
      Network
      The IP address for this network. Available addresses within the network address can be further specified using the subnet value. For example, 10.0.0.0.
      Subnet Mask
      A range of IP addresses that are available to the network address. For example, 255.255.255.0.
      At any time, you can discard the network information by clicking Remove. The network definition is removed. You can start defining a new network by clicking Add Network AddNetworkIcon.gif.
    2. To exclude one or more IP addresses from a network, perform the following steps:
      1. Click Add An Excluded IP or Range. 
        Additional options appear. Use them to specify IP addresses that should be excluded from the network you are currently defining. Typically, you exclude a network address when it is already being used for other purposes.
      2. To specify one IP address to exclude, enter a value for Start IP Address. To specify a range of IP addresses, enter a value for Start IP Address and End IP Address.
        AddExclusions.gif
      3. Repeat the previous steps to specify another address or range of addresses to exclude.
        To remove an excluded address or range of addresses, click Remove.  
    3. When you complete a definition for a network, click Keep (at top right).
      Quick Start shows a summary of the network definition.
      NetworkPodList.gif
      To remove a definition for a network, click Remove.
    4. To define an additional network, click Add Network AddNetworkIcon.gifand repeat the previous steps.
     
  7. When you finish defining networks, click Next.
    The vCenter connector is complete. Quick Start opens the New Environment page, the first step in defining a vCenter environment.

 Quick Start interactions with BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Click here to learn about the actions Quick Start takes based on your choices when adding a connector.

Action

Related information

Add the vCenter server to those servers managed by BMC Server Automation, set properties for the vCenter custom object, and distribute the vCenter custom object.

Create a pod blueprint using the network information provided.

Create a pod from the pod blueprint.

Onboard the pod.

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Adding vCenter environments

5StepVcenterEnvironment.png

A vCenter environment defines the compute, storage, and network resources available for a virtual machine. Essentially, a vCenter environment is one or more VLANs that provide network isolation for tenants in the cloud.

If a failure occurs while adding a vCenter environment, Quick Start automatically rolls back all content.

To add a vCenter environment

  1. Complete the New Environment page.
    This page lets you provide information that defines a new vCenter environment. Quick Start uses this information to create a network container in BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management.NewEnvironment.gif
    Option
    Description
    Environment Name
    Name to assign to the vCenter environment. Quick Start uses the environment name when it creates a network container and a tag in BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management.
    Description
    Description of the vCenter environment.
    vCenter Server
    The vCenter server that is specified for the vCenter connector.
  2. Click Next to display the Compute Pools page.
    The Compute Pools page lets you select the clusters and resource pools managed by the VMware Distribute Resource Scheduler (DRS) to include in your environment's compute pool. You can also select hosts not managed by DRS.ComputePools.gif
  3. Click Next to display the Data Storage page.
    The Data Storage page lets you select vCenter datastores to include in your environment's compute pool.StoragePools.gif
  4. Click Next to display the Networks page.
    The Networks page lets you define networks within an environment (that is, within a network container in BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management). You accomplish this by identifying networks that already exist on a port group. Quick Start can use the information about existing networks to define networks where virtual machines can be provisioned.The Networks page also shows networks that were identified while defining a vCenter connector. These "pod-level networks" have only one editable option, Network Alias. You can override the network alias in the context of this environment.Networks.gif
    Provide information about a new network.
    NetworkOptions.gif
    Option
    Description
    [VLAN] Port Group
    A port group available on this VLAN. Using a VLAN, you can segment a single physical LAN segment so groups of ports are isolated from one another as if they were on physically different segments.
    Notes
    • A VLAN can only be used in a single connector or environment network.  If you have multiple port groups on the same VLAN, you will only be able to use one of those port groups.
    • Quick Start can only use port groups with a specified VLAN.  Port groups that leverage untagged or native VLANs must be updated to specify the VLAN ID.
    Management
    A flag indicating whether the network is used for management purposes. If you do not specify a network at the pod level and you only specify one network at the environment level, you must indicate that the network be used for both management and customer purposes.
    Customer
    A flag indicating the network is used for customer purposes. If you do not specify a network at the pod level and you only specify one network at the environment level, you must indicate that the network be used for both management and customer purposes.
    Network Alias
    An identifying name for a network created in BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management. Choose from the list of typical aliases or enter your own name. The alias is also used for generating a tag.For pod-level networks, identified while connecting to a vCenter, you can modify the Network Alias.
    Gateway
    Address of the IP router that is used to forward traffic to destinations outside of the local network. For example, 10.0.0.1.
    Network
    IP address for this network. Available addresses within the network address can be further specified using the subnet value. For example, 10.0.0.0.
    Subnet
    A range of IP addresses that are available to the network address. For example, 255.255.255.0.
    At any time, you can discard the network information by clicking Discard. The network definition is removed. You can start defining a new network by clicking Add Network AddNetworkIcon.gif.
    1. To exclude one or more IP addresses from the network you are defining, perform the following steps:
      1. Click Add An Excluded IP or Range.
        Additional options appear. Use them to specify IP addresses that should be excluded from the network you are defining. Typically, you exclude a network address when it is already being used for other purposes. 
      2. To specify one IP address to exclude, enter a value for Start IP Address. To specify a range of IP addresses, enter a value for Start IP Address and End IP Address. 
        AddExclusionsEnvNetworks.gif
      3. Repeat the previous steps to specify another address or range of addresses to exclude.
        To remove an excluded address or range of addresses, click Remove.
         
    2. When you complete a definition for a network, click Keep (at top right).
      Quick Start shows a summary of the network definition.
      NetworkDefinitionsEnv.gif
      To remove a definition for a network, click Remove. All data for the network is deleted. 
    3. To begin defining another network, click Add Network AddNetworkIcon.gif.
  5. When you finish defining networks, click Next. 
    The vCenter environment is complete. Quick Start opens the Template page, the first step in defining a vCenter service offering.

Quick Start interactions with BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Click here to learn about the actions Quick Start takes based on your choices when adding vCenter environments.

Action

Related information

Onboard compute resources, which adds the resources to a pod's default compute pool.

Group compute and data storage resources into a compute resource pool.

Create a network container blueprint.

Create network container.

Map compute pools to the network containers.

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Adding vCenter service offerings

5StepVcenterServices.png

You must define an offering that end users can choose in a service catalog when they are provisioning virtual machines (VMs).

When you define services, you identify an existing VM template that Quick Start uses as the basis of a Virtual Guest Package (VGP). You also specify network information needed to provision the VM. When provisioning actually occurs, the VGP provides an instruction set and any files needed for implementing the configuration of the new virtual machine.

To add vCenter services from templates

  1. Complete the Template page.
    The Template page lets you name the service offering you are creating and select the VM template that is deployed when a user requests this service. 

    ServicesTemplate.gif
    Option
    Description
    Service Name
    Name of the service you want to offer in the service catalog.
    Service Description
    Descriptive text for the service.
    vCenter Server
    The vCenter server identified when you establish a vCenter connector.
    VM Template
    A VM template chosen from the list of VM templates available to the vCenter server.
    OS Key
    The key to the operating system license you are using, including all hyphens in the key. This license is only required when provisioning Windows VMs.
    Admin Password
    A phrase that will be configured as the administrator's password on the virtual machine.
    Confirm Password
    Re-type the password for the administrator.
  2. Click Next to display the Service Offering page.
    The Service Offering page lets you specify the processing capabilities and network interface cards (NICs) that will be provisioned to virtual machines. 

    CreateServices.gif
  3. Enter the characteristics of the VM to be provisioned.
    Option
    Description
    CPU Count
    Select the number of CPUs for the VM being provisioned.
    Memory (MB)
    Select the amount of memory, in megabytes, that is available to the VM being provisioned.
    Price
    (Optional) Enter the amount a user is charged for use of a virtual machine for a specified period of time. For example, 20 dollars per month.
    Currency
    Select the type of currency, such as U.S. dollars (USD).
    Period
    Select the length of time for which a user is charged for use of a virtual machine.
    Include CPU & Memory Options
    Indicates the service offering will include out-of-the-box options that allow the end user to specify the CPU count and memory.
  4. Click Add New AddNewIcon.gifto add a Network Interface Card (NIC).
    The Service Offering page displays a row of options you can use for defining a NIC, as described below.
    NewNIC.gif
    Option
    Description
    Network Alias
    Identifying name for the network to which this NIC connects. Choices are derived from network aliases specified while connecting to a vCenter (that is, defining a connector) and defining networks for the environment.
    Address Pool
    Select one of the following options. You must designate at least one NIC for management purposes.
    • Static — An IP address for the NIC is based on the network, subnet, and excluded address information provided while connecting to a vCenter and defining networks for the environment.
    • DHCP — An IP address for the NIC is automatically obtained from a DHCP server each time the virtual machine boots up.
    Management Network
    A flag indicating whether the network is used for management purposes. At least one management network is required.
    At right on each row, icons let you delete a NIC, move it up, or move it down.You may want to reorder NICs because the default network path for the server is routed through the first NIC in the list. For example, if only one NIC allows Internet traffic, you probably want to position that NIC as first in the list.
  5. When you finish defining services, click Next.
    VMware setup is complete. Quick Start displays a summary page showing all the configuration settings you have chosen. 
  6. After reviewing the summary page, click Finished.
    The Quick Start home page opens. You can now set up tenants and users.

Quick Start interactions with BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Click here to learn about the actions Quick Start takes based on your choices when adding service offerings.

Action

Related information

Run a Virtual Guest Package job in BMC Server Automation to create a VGP of the vCenter template and automatically publish the VGP to the Product Catalog.

Create a service blueprint that includes the specified computing and network resources.

Create a service offering to specify the computing and network resources that should be provisioned to virtual machines.

Create a requestable offering that is visible to end users who are provisioning virtual machines

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Adding tenants and users

5StepVcenterTenant.png

You must define the entitlements that are available to tenants. An entitlement is a set of service offerings that a tenant can request. A tenant in BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management can be a company, organization, or any other group of users. By setting up tenants, you can segregate companies or organizations in the cloud. You can also control what entitlement packages are available for each tenant.

You must also create users that are associated with a tenant.

If a failure occurs while adding tenants, users, and entitlements, Quick Start automatically rolls back all content.

To add tenants, entitlements, and users

  1. On the Quick Start welcome page, click New Tenant and User. The Add Tenant page opens.
    This page provides the information needed to define a tenant and the entitlements available to the tenant.NewTenant.gif

    Option
    Description
    Name
    Name of the tenant.
    Location
    Location of the tenant.This location does not have to be the same as the location of a vCenter server you specify when creating a vCenter connector.
    Environment Entitlement
    Associates the tenant with an environment.
    Offering Entitlement
    Identifies the service offerings to which the tenant is entitled. For each offering you select, you must ensure that the associated environment (specified with the Environment Entitlement option) is also selected.

    Note

    If you map multiple environments with different network aliases to a single tenant, subsequent provisioning attempts in BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management may fail with policy validation errors.

    If you map multiple environments created from multiple network pods to a single tenant, provisioning may fail because the environment chosen during provisioning may be incompatible with the VM Template or AMI used for service creation.

    Click here for a workaround to either scenario
    1. Apply the QS_Environments tag to the top-level service blueprint for each environment to be provisioned. For more information about applying tags to service blueprints, see Managing-blueprint-tags.
    2. Select the Service Governor workspace. Then select Network Container and add a policy with the following characteristics. For more information on adding policies, see Adding-and-editing-policies.
      • Matches all
      • Service Blueprint matches QS_Environments
  2. Complete the page and click Next to display the Add User page.
    This page provides the information needed to define a new user for a tenant.NewUser.gif
    Option
    Description
    First Name
    User's first name.
    Last Name
    User's last name.
    Login Name
    User's logon ID
    Password
    User's password.
    Confirm Password
    Retype the user's password.
    Role
    One of the following user roles:
    • Cloud Admin—Manage the full life cycle of the cloud environment, including its initial planning, deployment, and configuration, and its continued administration, operation, and maintenance.
    • Org Admin—Manage a subset of the cloud to perform tasks such as monitoring usage, administering virtual firewalls, and maintaining virtual load balancers.
    • End User—Request services, such as the deployment of virtual machines (VMs), through the BMC My Cloud Services Console.
    Tenant Company
    Tenant that is associated with this user.
  3. Complete the Add User page and click Next to view a summary of the choices you have made for tenants and users.
  4. Click Finished.

Quick Start interactions with BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Click here to learn about the actions Quick Start takes based on your choices in the Tenants and Entitlements wizard.

Action

Related information

Create a tenant company.

Select entitlement packages for a tenant.

Add tenant users.

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