Configuring vROPS Federation Management Pack in VMware vROPS 8

With vRealize Operations Federation Management Pack you can unify your multi-site vRealize Operations Manager  deployment into a single pane of glass.  You can instantiate a deployment of vRealize Operations Manager with the capability of receiving key metrics for specified objects from other vRealize Operations Manager deployments in your environment.

How to Configure VMware vROPS Federation Management Pack 

A. Download vRealize Operations Federation Management Pack

1. Home > Quick Start > vRealize Operations Federation

2. Click on vRealize Operations Federation Tile

3. Click on Login to Try

4. Login with My VMware Credential

5. Click on Try

6. Download vRealize Operations Federation Management Pack > Save it

B. Install vRealize Operations Federation Management Pack

1. Administration > Other Accounts > Add Account

2. Install Management Packs

 3. Click on Add/Upgrade

 4. Browse Management Pack > Upload it > Next

5. Click on I accept terms of this agreement > Next

 6. Click on Finish

C. Configure vRealize Operations Federation Management Pack with Second vROPS Sever Details

1. Administration > Other Accounts > Add Account
 

2. Click on Federation Adapter Tile

3. Enter the Second vROPS details

4. Accept the Certificate

5.  Check the Status of Adapter, It should be OK

6. Wait for Few Minutes, It will start populating the status of another vROPS Server

VMware vROPS 8 Lightning Lab Available Now

Are you interested to know What's New in VMware vROPS 8? Try this VMware vROPS 8 Lightning Lab Available Now from here

Running Multiple Scenario's Simultaneously in VMware vROPS 8 - Yes, It's Back!!!!!

Many of you might have used vROPS 6. There was a Feature called Projects for Predictive Capacity Modeling, with this one can predict for running these many VMs how many more esxi servers are enough to run the VM's without any shortfall of the resources. I missed this feature in vROPS 7, where Projects Feature was replaced with What-If Analysis but it was not possible to Run multiple Scenario's. Now this Feature is Back in VMware vROPS 8, this means now you can create multiple scenario's for example one scenario is adding the vm's on specific date and another scenario is adding new esxi hosts in the cluster at specific date. Now you can run both the scenario's together rather running them one by one because running them one by one doesn't help in proper capacity planning.

How to Configure it?
1. Home > Under Optimize Capacity Select What-If Analysis > Overview Tab

2. Once Scenario's are created, these will be listed in Saved Scenario's List

3. Select Both the Scenario's and Click on Run Scenario

Result after Scenario's Execution is Completed

Note:-

VMware vRA 8 Configuration Workflow

Cloud Account - Cloud accounts allow you to bring your public cloud and on-prem data centers under management. This is like Endpoint (In vRA 7.x)

Cloud Zone - Cloud zones associate compute resources with projects and account/regions to form the basis of deployable virtual machines. In addition, they enable you to define capabilities that Cloud Assembly matches with blueprint constraints to define where and how resources are configured for deployments. This is like Fabric Group (In vRA 7.x)

Project - Projects link users and cloud zones. Think of projects as groups that control who can use what cloud resources. This is like Business Group (In vRA 7.x)

Flavor Mapping - Cloud vendors use flavors, or instance types, to express standard deployment sizings such as small (1 CPU,2 GB RAM) or large (2 CPU, 8 GB RAM) for compute resources. When you build a blueprint, you pick a flavor that fits your needs. This is like Component Profile (In vRA 7.x)

Image Mapping - Cloud vendors use images to configure a VM based on OS settings, such as an ubuntu-16 configuration. When you build a blueprint, you pick an image that fits your needs. Map an image name to a value for each account/region. You can also add constraints and configuration scripts to further control resource placement. This is also like Component Profile (In vRA 7.x)

Blueprint - Blueprints are specifications for the resources that you deploy.

Stay Tuned....To know more about these Configuration Workflow Steps.

Header and Help Panel Branding in VMware vRA 8

Header Branding

1. Login with "configadmin" named user.
2. Branding Tab
3. Header Tab
Customize Company Logo, Product Name, Text Color, Background Color as per your requirement

4. Click on Apply

Help Panel Branding

1. Login with "configadmin" named user.
2. Branding Tab
3. Help Panel Tab
4. Enter Community Link - This will be listed under "?" Button

 5. Click on Apply
 

Customize VMware vRA 8 Login Screen Branding

In VMware vRA 8 there is no vIDM embedded in vRA Appliance. It has dependency on External vIDM. Login Page of vRA 8 is provided by vIDM. If you want to change login screen branding, it is possible through vIDM. Here is procedure to Customize vRA8 Login Page:-

Default Login Page

Steps To Customize vRA 8 Login Page

1. Login to vIDM with "configadmin" named user
2. Open Identity and Access Management Tab > Click on Setup

3. Click on Custom Branding > Sign-In Screen > Upload Logo

4. Once uploaded this will be listed in Preview Pane too > Click on Save
Optionally you can update Background Image too

5. If you want to change login button color too, Scroll Down > Provide Hex Code of Color > Save

Once Done > Final Page looks like this

VMware vRA 8 Port Requirements

Refer this table to know Inbound and Outbound Port Requirements for VMware vRA 8

Info Source - VMware Docs

To View these port requirements you can refer too https://ports.vmware.com/home/vRealize-Automation

VMware vRA 8 Scalability Limits

VMware vRA 8 has many changes in product architecture. Here is list of Scalability Limits with One Node and Three Node vRA 8 Deployment.  
1 Node

Info Source - VMware Docs

3 Node

Info Source - VMware Docs

Registry Value For Performing a silent uninstallation of the VMware Horizon Agent 7.7

If you are looking for registry value of Horizon Agent 7.7 to perform silent un-installation of Horizon Agent 7.7. Here it is :-

Registry Value for Horizon Agent  7.7

Here is the >>>>>link<<<<< of Old Agent Versions Registry Value details.

VMware Horizon Virtual Printing vs Location Based Printing Compatibility Matrix

VMware Horizon Supports both Virtual Printing and Location Based Printing but with certain types of devices location based printing is available as the only option asVirtual Printing requires Printer Drivers to be installed on Horizon Client Machine. Here is list of access method where Virtual Printing is Supported:-

Image Source - VMware Docs

VMware Ports and Protocols For VMware Products

Firewall Configuration is always one of the important requirement while designing any environment. Refer this link to know VMware Products Firewall Ports requirements.

https://ports.vmware.com/

VMware Podcast Podlets For Cloud Native Concepts

Refer this Link to access Podcast Podlets:-
http://bit.ly/2rcfpV4

VMware Advanced Printing - VMware Horizon 7.7 Feature

The VMware Advanced Printing feature supports client printer redirection, as well as location-based printing, and it persists printer settings that users configure:

VMware Advanced Printing supports the following:

• Printing to any printer available on the client (similar to ThinPrint)
• Printer redirection
• Location-based printing
• Persistent print setting
• Printing for published desktops and applications that are deployed on physical RDS hosts

Note:- You cannot run both Old Virtual Printing Feature and New Advanced Printing Feature on same Desktop (Only one of the Printing Feature you can run on an Desktop). This is Horizon Agent Feature, which can be configured through GPO

Requirements:
VMware Advance Print requires Horizon Agent 7.7 and Horizon Client 4.10, and is compatible with Horizon GPOs.


How to Configure
Check this Link to Know how to configure it.

More Links:-
https://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2019/02/25/getting-started-with-vmware-virtual-print.aspx

Session Collaboration - VMware Horizon Feature

With the Session Collaboration feature, users can invite other users to join an existing Windows remote desktop session. This feature was Introduced in Horizon 7.4

Requirements

Limitations

Users cannot use the following remote desktop features in a collaborative session.

1. USB redirection
2. Real-Time Audio-Video (RTAV)
3. Multimedia redirection
4. Client drive redirection
5. Smart card redirection
6. Virtual printing
7. Microsoft Lync redirection
8. File redirection and Keep in Dock functionality
9. Clipboard redirection
10. Users cannot change the remote desktop resolution in a collaborative session.
11. Users cannot have multiple collaboration sessions on the same client machine.

How to Configure it
1. Enable the Session Collaboration Feature:-

• Enable through Desktop Pool Properties or
• Enable through RDS Farm Properties or
• Through GPO.

Through Desktop Pool Properties

Through GPO

2.  Connect with the VDI Desktop

3. Send the Invite to the Desired User

Notification Area > Click on  Session Collaboration Icon > Search for the User

 Click on Copy Link (You will get two more option in your environment IM and Email)

Paste this Link and Share with this viewuserb

4. Login with viewuserb on any Network Machine > Open this Invite Link > Enter the Credential of viewuserb to connect with this session > As soon as it is joined by viewuserb, on the source machine you will see status will be changed to "Joined"

But by default viewuserb can only see the what source is presenting, there will be no control on this machine (You cannot use keyboard and Mouse in this session by default)

To Provide the Control to Collaborators, Make this change:-
Notification Area > Session Collaboration Icon > Use this toggle switch on enable Remote Control
Note: To Disable Remote Control Use Double Clock on Press any Key

Create VMware vSphere Asset Inventory through GUI

Interested in creating the VMware vSphere Asset Inventory through GUI? Here is solution
- Use vSphere Client (HTML 5 Based) or vSphere Web Client

vSphere Client
Open vSphere Client > Select the Inventory Data you want to export (In Example i have exported VM Info) > Export > CSV file will be generated

vSphere Web Client
You can perform the above mentioned steps through vSphere Web Client too. Here is how:-

VMware Identity Manager (vIDM) is now Workspace One Access - Rebranding

VMware has rebranded vIDM and now the new name of the product is Workspace One Access

To Know more about this product Refer >>>>>Link1 Link2 Link3<<<<<

VMware Upcoming Webcasts - It's Free

If you are interested in Learning about different VMware Offerings, here is the link for you to register yourself for attending these upcoming webcasts >>>>>Link<<<<<

VMware UEM (User Environment Manager) Rebranding Annoucement

Product Rename. For 9.9 and later, the product name is VMware Dynamic Environment Manager (Old Name was VMware User Environment Manager).

For Info Refer >>>>>Link<<<<<

What's New in vRealize Operations Manager (vROPS) 8?

 The vRealize Operations Manager 8.0 release focuses on ease of use, faster time to value, an integrated cloud management platform, and extensibility to your environment through new and enhanced integrations. Within the existing tenets of performance, capacity, configuration, and compliance, this release brings in new features such as the cloud management platform, troubleshooting workbench, native service discovery, and application-aware infrastructure monitoring, which helps you manage your multi-cloud environments, hosting both traditional and modern applications.

For Detailed Info Refer >>>>>Link<<<<<

What's New in VMware vRealize Automation (vRA) 8?

This is the next major release of vRealize Automation.

This release of vRealize Automation uses a Kubernetes based micro-services architecture. The new release takes a modern approach to delivering hybrid cloud management, extending cloud management to public clouds, delivering applications with DevOps and managing Kubernetes based workloads.

The many benefits of vRealize Automation 8.0 include:

1. Modern Platform using Kubernetes based micro-services architecture that provides

2. Simple install footprint for both non-HA and HA configurations

3. Scalable to meet modern workload challenges

4. Easy to setup and consume multi-cloud infrastructure surface

5. API-first approach to deliver cloud automation

6. Deliver Infrastructure-as-Code using a declarative YAML syntax

7. Iterative development of blueprints

8. Cloud Agnostic Blueprints

9. Collaboration across teams via sharing of objects

10. Self-service catalog coupled with agile governance

11. Simple policies

12. Native support for SPBM policies

13. Deploy IPv6 workloads on dual-stack IP (IPv4/ IPv6) networks in vSphere

14. CI/CD pipeline and automated application release management

15. Kubernetes/container management

16. New Action based extensibility (ABX), which allows you to write lightweight scripts, using node.js and python.

17. Git Integration to manage all blueprints, workflows, actions and pipelines.

18. Workload on-boarding with existing data center VMs

For More Info Refer >>>>> Link<<<<<

OS Supported by VMware vRLI Agents and Hardware Prerequisites

These are the OS's Supported by vRLI Agents and Hardware Prerequisites for vRLI Agent Installation:-

Reference Image is taken from here

VMware vRealize Log Insight (vRLI) Upgrade Path - How to Check?

If you are planning to upgrade existing version of vRLI to new version. Here is how one can find out from which version to which version upgrade can be find out:-

1. Open VMware Product Interoperability Matrices Guide from this link
https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php#upgrade&solution=88
2. Open Upgrade Path Tab
3. Select vRealize Log Insight, then you will get output like this where you can check from which Which old version to new version upgrade is possible:-