Provisioning for Azure Resource Manager (with or without templates)

Through templates, Azure Resource Manager gives developers and systems administrators an easy way to create and manage a collection of related Azure resources, provisioning and updating them in an orderly and predictable fashion.

The topics in this section provide information and instructions for deploying Azure resources from Azure Resource Manager (with or without templates):

• Process for deploying Azure resources from Azure Resource Manager
• Registering Azure Resource Manager or Azure Template Provider as a proxy custom resource provider
• Installing BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.04 or later for the Azure artifacts
• Setting up service blueprints for custom resources (AzureRMTemplateProvider) with templates
• Setting up service blueprints for custom resources without templates
• Adding an Azure resource set to a multi-tier service blueprint
• Seting up support for managed disk and replication type
• Managing Azure resources
  
• Related BMC Communities videos
• Related topic

Process for deploying Azure resources from Azure Resource Manager

In version 4.6.04 and later, BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management service blueprints allow specifications of one or more external templates that are sequenced among other template constructs (servers and other elements). You can use sample templates from Azure Resource Manager or create your own templates to describe the Azure resources (and any associated dependencies or runtime parameters) required to run your application.

You can create templates for the service or application architectures you want and have Azure Resource Manager use those templates for quick and reliable provisioning of the services or applications (called “resource groups”). Through the My Cloud Services console, the template invocation service returns the information about the provisioned artifacts, such as names, identifiers, and connection details (all grouped under a name or identifier for the resource group).

After the Azure resources are deployed, you can also easily update the resource group to conform to a newly submitted template (which might effectively roll back any changes in the artifacts, or drive a change into the resultant resource group compared to its original state). Or, you can update the resource group to replicate the group as needed.

In BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.05 and later, you can also provision Azure resources without templates through Azure Resource Manager.

To enable end users to deploy Azure resources from Azure Resource Manager (with or without templates), you must create a custom provider. The entire process is as follows:

Registering Azure Resource Manager or Azure Template Provider as a proxy custom resource provider

Use this procedure to register Azure Resource Manager or Azure Template Provider. (This procedure is available for BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.04 and later.)

1. From the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management Administration Console, click the vertical Workspaces menu on the left side of the window and select Providers.

2. Under Quick Links, select Custom.
    

   Note

   If you do not deploy the artifacts from BMC Communities as indicated in the ZipKit instructions section, Custom will not appear as an option.

3. On the Providers page, click the Register icon .

1. In the Register Provider dialog box, select AzureRMTemplateProvider as the resource provider type to register.

 Complete or modify the following fields, as necessary.

In version 4.6.05.002 and later, you will see these fields:

In version 4.6.04, you will see these fields:

Installing BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.04 or later for the Azure artifacts

To integrate BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management with Azure Resource Manager, install BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.04 or later.

To ensure that BMC CSM (Platform Manager), BMC Remedy AR System, and mid tier services are up and running:

1. Log on to the Cloud Lifecycle Management Administration Console.
2. Click the vertical Workspaces menu at the left and select Configuration.
3. On the General tab > Resync Index section, click Sync Index.
4. Wait for the Sync Index operation to complete.

Before you get started, make sure that name resolution works for the following hosts or make an appropriate DNS entry for these hosts:

• login.microsoftonline.com
• login.windows.net
• management.azure.com
• management.core.windows.net
• manage.windowsazure.com

The proxy also needs the following hosts, and the proxy does not restrict them:

If BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management environment is completely isolated from internet traffic, perform the following steps to honour the proxy:

1. Go to the Platform Manager host.
2. Stop the Platform Manager service.
3. Open <PlatformManagerInstallationPath>/Platform_Manager/wrapper.conf file.

4. Add the following entries to the file:

   # Java Additional Parameters
   
   
   #For http configuration
   wrapper.java.additional.10=-Dhttp.proxyHost=10.5.28.110
   wrapper.java.additional.11=-Dhttp.proxyPort=80
   wrapper.java.additional.12=-Dhttp.nonProxyHosts="localhost|127.0.0.1|*.<domain_for_all_clm_hosts>|<any_additional_criteria_if_required>"
   #For https configuration
   wrapper.java.additional.13=-Dhttps.proxyHost=10.5.28.110
   wrapper.java.additional.14=-Dhttps.proxyPort=80
   wrapper.java.additional.15=-Dhttps.nonProxyHosts="localhost|127.0.0.1|*.<domain_for_all_clm_hosts>|<any_additional_criteria_if_required>"

5. Save the file.

   If you are defining proxy related settings in the wrapper.conf file, all the providers configured in the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management environment honours the settings defined in the wrapper.conf file.

6. Clean OSGi cache under  <PlatformManagerInstallationPath>/Platform_Manager/configuration directory.

   drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 1024 Dec 11 17:59 org.eclipse.core.runtime
   drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 1024 Dec 11 02:45 org.eclipse.equinox.app
   drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 1024 Dec 11 18:05 org.eclipse.osgi
7. Start the Platform Manager service.
   
   

Setting up service blueprints for custom resources (AzureRMTemplateProvider) with templates

In version 4.6.04 and later, the Service Designer workspace offers considerable flexibility when defining a blueprint for a custom resource like AzureRMTemplateProvider. The following sections provide steps for creating a simple blueprint that uses a custom resource and steps for creating a multi-tier blueprint. For more details, see also Building-service-blueprints-for-an-Azure-service and Service-blueprint-parameters-for-Azure.

To create a service blueprint with templates or hybrid blueprint

1. In the Service Designer workspace, click Create New > Service Blueprint.

2. Click Custom Resource.
   A new Custom Resource is added to the service blueprint as shown in the following figure:
   

   In BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.05 and later, you can create mixed mode (hybrid) blueprints by adding another resource set. For example, a blueprint can contain both custom resources and Azure resources for instance-based provisioning as shown below:

    

3.  Go to Service Deployment Definition > Service Deployment Definition Name > Resource set.
4. Click Edit. 

5. Go to Compute Resources tab and verify the Installable Resource name. 

   

   In BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.05.002, if the value of the installable resource name (Cloud Platform > Machine Image) is preceded by (Any), then the images are deployed on any of the available regions depending on the logical hosting environment selection at the time of provisioning. For more information about logical hosting environment, see Managing-Logical-Data-Centers-for-the-Azure-Provider.

   However, you must ensure that the image names are identical in the regions. For example, if you have a Win2K12EnterpriseEdition image  in both EastUS region and WestUS region, and the value of the Machine Image field is (Any)Win2K12EnterpriseEdition, then the image is deployed in any of the two regions. 

   To retrieve the value in Cloud Platform > Machine Image field, you must ensure that you have entered a resource group name containing managed images in the Register Provider > Resource Groups containing Custom VM Images field.

6. Click OK.
7. Click Save.
8. Enter a unique name for your blueprint to describe the custom resource type (for example, Azure_SingleLAMP).
9. Provide a Description.

10. Click OK.

    Note

    After onboarding, the Azure Provider auto-publishes all of the images from your Microsoft Azure account to the BMC Product Catalog with the following attributes for each Definitive Media Library (DML) entry:

    • Product Type: Software
    • CI Type: Product
    • Categorization Tier1: Software Distribution
    • Categorization Tier2: VM Template
    • Categorization Tier3: AzureRM
    • Product Name: <Valid Azure image name as listed in the Image Gallery of Microsoft Azure management portal>
    • Manufacturer: AzureRM

    If the images are not available or are deleted in your Microsoft Azure account, the Cloud Administrator must delete the DML entries manually from BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management.

    Note

    The Monitoring Blueprint Configuration option type is not applicable for Azure Resource Manager (for provisioning with templates and without templates). Even though you can select the options native to the service blueprint, namely Enable Monitoring, Enable Monitoring Policy, and Monitoring Level, these options do not have any significance.

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Setting up service blueprints for custom resources without templates

The following sections provide steps for creating a simple blueprint that uses a custom resource. 

To create a service blueprint without templates

1. In the Service Designer workspace, click Create New > Service Blueprint.

2. Click Custom Resource.
   A new Custom Resource is added to the service blueprint as shown in the following figure:
   

   In BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.05 and later, you can create mixed mode (hybrid) blueprints by adding another resource set. 
   

3.  Go to Service Deployment Definition > Service Deployment Definition Name > Resource set.
4. Click Edit. 

5. Go to Compute Resources tab and verify the Installable Resource name. 

   

   In BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.05.002, if the value of the installable resource name (Cloud Platform > Machine Image) is preceded by (Any), then the images are deployed on any of the available regions depending on the logical hosting environment selection at the time of provisioning. For more information about logical hosting environment, see Managing-Logical-Data-Centers-for-the-Azure-Provider.

   However, you must ensure that the image names are identical in the regions. For example, if you have a Win2K12EnterpriseEdition image  in both EastUS region and WestUS region, and the value of the Machine Image field is (Any)Win2K12EnterpriseEdition, then the image is deployed in any of the two regions.

   Note

   To retrieve the value in Cloud Platform > Machine Image field, you must ensure that you have entered a resource group name containing managed images in the Register Provider > Resource Groups containing Custom VM Images field.

6. Click OK.
7. Click Save.
8. Enter a unique name for your blueprint to describe the custom resource type (for example, Azure_SingleLAMP).
9. Provide a Description.

10. Click OK.

    Note

    After onboarding, the Azure Provider auto-publishes all of the images from your Microsoft Azure account to the BMC Product Catalog with the following attributes for each Definitive Media Library (DML) entry:

    • Product Type: Software
    • CI Type: Product
    • Categorization Tier1: Software Distribution
    • Categorization Tier2: VM Template
    • Categorization Tier3: AzureRM
    • Product Name: <Valid Azure image name as listed in the Image Gallery of Microsoft Azure management portal>
    • Manufacturer: AzureRM

    If the images are not available or are deleted in your Microsoft Azure account, the Cloud Administrator must delete the DML entries manually from BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management.

List of custom load balancer parameters for Azure Provider

If you want to use Azure load balancer, ensure that you add the following parameters in BMC Atrium and BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management blueprint:

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Adding an Azure resource set to a multi-tier service blueprint

1. In the Service Designer workspace, click the Azure resource in the service blueprint that you created.

2. In the edit pane for that resource set, under Custom Resource Properties, specify information for the new Azure resource.
   
   

   Field	Instruction
   Proxy Provider Definition	Select the proxy provider (AzureRMTemplateProvider).
   Type	Select the type of resource (CustomResource).
   Subtype	Select the subtype of the resource (AzureRM TemplateProvider).
   IR Type	Select the installable resource type (External Repository).
   Location	Specify the full path to the JSON file that contains the Azure template information. The Azure Resource Manager service must be able to resolve this URL. The URL can be on a public site, or it can be on an Azure storage location that is configured to require an access token to read the content. In the latter case (which is more secure), you append one of the following arguments to the URL so that BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management generates a static, long-living shared-access signature (SAS) token (as described in Microsoft Azure documentation): #sastoken_template# (This argument is not applicable for nested templates.) #sastoken# (use for nested templates) #sastoken_storage# #sastoken_container# For nested templates, use the #sastoken_storage# or #sastoken_container# if all referred templates are within same storage account or container. For example, if your URL is https://linuximgdisks455.blob.core.windows.net/templates/iaas-template.json, add the argument to the end as follows:        https://linuximgdisks455.blob.core.windows.net/templates/iaas-template.json#sastoken_container# For more information about deploying private templates with SAS tokens, see the Microsoft Azure documentation. Note: Only Azure storage accounts are supported as protected repositories for hosting templates.
   Account	Select an Azure account.
   Region	Select the region for the account.

3. Click the Discover Parameters button to upload the parameters from the JSON file that you entered in the Location field.
   The parameters appear on the Parameters panel.
   
   These parameters are examples. Your environment might use different parameters.

4. On the Parameters panel, add, edit, and delete the necessary parameters.

   Note

   The parameters that you add depend on the Azure resources that you want to create. If the parameters defined in the service blueprint are configured with User Entry Enabled and Required options, you can see the one-click Reprovisioning option.

   For more information about entering parameters, see Configuring-service-blueprint-parameters. See also Service-blueprint-parameters-for-Azure.

5. Click the custom resource set (the green box) to provide basic details.

   Field	Instruction
   Name	Enter a name for the custom resource set.
   Description	Describe the purpose or nature of the custom resource set.
   Number of Instances	Enter the number of instances to be provisioned. The number you enter appears in the upper-right corner of the box representing a resource instance.
   Tags	Define any tags you want applied to this resource set.  These tags must match the tags you specify in the logical data center. For more information about tags in service blueprints, see Managing-blueprint-tags.

6. To allow a custom resource set to be reused in other service blueprints, save it to the Blueprint Library:
   1. Right-click the custom resource set and click Convert to Reference.
   2. Enter a Name for the custom resource set (for example, Azure_Infrastructure).
      This name will be visible in the Blueprint Library; therefore, provide a name that cloud administrators can easily identify as the custom resource set.
   3. Enter a Description of the custom resource set.
   4. Click OK.
      The blueprint is added to the Service Blueprints section of the Blueprint Library.
7. After you finish defining the custom service blueprint, click Save and provide a name for the service blueprint.
   You can save a version of a blueprint and assign a tag to each version, as described in Creating-copying-or-editing-a-service-blueprint.

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Seting up support for managed disk and replication type

New in 4.6.06 BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.05.001 and earlier versions supported un-managed instances or images. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.6.05.002 and later supports managed disks. For more information about managed disks, see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/managed-disks-overview.

To set the value to use managed disk

1. From the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management Administration Console, click the vertical Workspaces menu on the left side of the window and select Providers.
2. Under Quick Links, select Custom.
3. Click the provider for which you want detailed information.
4. Click Edit.
5. In the Azure Storage field, select a value for the disk storage. The default value is unmanaged_disks.
6. Click Submit.
   
   The following table displays all the possible combination:
   
   

To set the value of the managed disk storage option

1. In the Service Designer workspace, click the Azure resource in the service blueprint that you created.
2. In the edit pane for that resource set, under Custom Resource Properties, specify information for the new Azure resource.

1. With a blueprint open for editing in the Service Designer, open one of the following Compute Resources objects:
2. Click either the Tags field or the Add icon  next to the Tags field.
   The Tags menu appears.

1. In the Tags menu, click the tag you want to add. 

2. For ARM Managed OS Disk Account tag group,  select Premium_LRS or Standard_LRS. OR
   For ARM Managed Data Disk Account tag group, select Premium_LRS or Standard_LRS. For more information, see Managing-blueprint-tags.

   Note

    Do not apply both the tag groups to the same disk.

3. Click Save.

You can select either of them to decide the nature of the drive. You cannot set Premium LRS for an unsupported instance or family. 

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Managing Azure resources 

You can perform the following basic management actions if the template is modified:

• Decommission Service: You can decommission a service before the planned decommission date you specified when you created the cloud service.
• Extend Decommission Date: You can extend the life of a service past the planned decommission date you specified when you created the cloud service.
• Reprovision Service: When you create cloud services, you specify provisioning parameters. You can update the resource group parameters and reprovision the service.

To reprovision a custom resource

Perform the following steps if you want to update the existing Azure resources:   

1. Navigate to My Cloud Services console > My Resources tab > Resource Type > Custom Resources.

1. Click the hyperlink for the specific custom resource as shown in the following figure:
    
2. On the Custom Resources details page, click Reprovision.
   
3. On the Custom Resource Reprovision dialog box, specify new values for the Azure resources that you want to reprovision.
   

1. Click Reprovision.
   After reprovisioning is complete, the new values for the Azure resources are displayed.

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Related BMC Communities videos

See the following BMC Community video for more information:

 Setting up Azure Resource Manager provisioning (9:12): https://youtu.be/rAL6AXOsi1k 

Related topic

Setting-up-and-using-external-templates-for-provisioning