VConnect v1 Update 6 Setup Guide - Cloud Assert · - Veeam licenses can be purchased from CLOUD ASSERT along with VConnect licenses. Contact [email protected] for details. -

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VCONNECT V1 UPDATE 6 SETUP GUIDE

SETUP GUIDE

VConnect for Windows Azure Pack setup

and configuration guide

Version: 1.0.7.2

Published: 9/23/2015

INTRODUCTION VConnect for Windows Azure Pack integrates VMWare hosts to Windows Azure Pack. VConnect has three

components and respective installers:

I. VConnect API Service

II. VConnect Admin Extension

III. VConnect Tenant Extension

These components can be installed on the same machine or multiple machines depending on the Windows

Azure Pack Setup.

GENERAL PRE-REQUISITES: Following are some of the installation pre-requisites and checklist.

VConnect Database: a. Create a SQL Database and note down the name. For example: VConnectDB

b. Create a database user with read-write, owner and admin privileges just to this database

VMWare vSphere PowerCLI Prepare a machine on which VMWare vSphere PowerCLI is installed and that can be configured with

VConnect

c. This machine could be the same machine on which VConnect will be installed or a different

server. For test and express installations we recommend using the same machine.

d. If this is a separate machine, ensure that the machine can be accessed from VConnect API

Service for running remote PowerShell commands.

i. Allow access to ports 5985 and 5986.

e. Run the following commands on the machine where VConnect API service is installed and

use appropriate thresholds for your environment:

i. winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts ="powerCliMachine"}

http://www.cloudassert.com/



ii. winrm set winrm/config/client @{AllowUnencrypted="true"}

iii. winrm set winrm/config/winrs '@{MaxShellsPerUser="500"}'

iv. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShells -Value 500

v. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser -Value 500

vi. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShells -Value 500

vii. Set-Item –Path

WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser -

Value 500

f. Download PowerCLI from:

https://developercenter.vmware.com/web/dp/tool/vsphere_powercli/5.5

Prepare vCenter: a. Clusters that will be configured with VConnect must have DRS turned on in vCenter.


https://developercenter.vmware.com/web/dp/tool/vsphere_powercli/5.5/



b. VM Templates that will be used in VConnect must have no NICs, remove any NICs that is present

in the template. Appropriate NIC will be added during the VM creation based on the

configurations.

OPTIONAL BACKUP FEATURE PRE-REQUISITES:

- VConnect Backup feature works on top of Veeam Backup and Replication v7.0 software suite.

- You can download trial versions from: http://www.veeam.com/downloads/

- Veeam licenses can be purchased from CLOUD ASSERT along with VConnect licenses. Contact

[email protected] for details.

- On the Veeam Server machine, enable access to WMI ports 5985 and 5986

- Run the following commands on the Veeam Server machine:

i. winrm set winrm/config/winrs '@{MaxShellsPerUser="500"}'

ii. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShells -Value 500

iii. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser -Value 500

iv. Set-Item -Path WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShells -Value 500

v. Set-Item -Path

WSMan:\localhost\Plugin\microsoft.powershell32\Quotas\MaxShellsPerUser -Value

500

- Run the following commands on the machine where VConnect API Service will be installed:

i. winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts ="powerCliMachine, veeamServer"}

ii. Remember to replace ‘powerCliMachine’ and ‘veeamServer’ with correct values


http://www.veeam.com/downloads/

mailto:[email protected]



INSTALLATION:

VCONNECT API SERVICE INSTALLATION:

Pre-Requisites: VConnect API Service can co-exist with other WAP Portal components, for example you can install

VConnect API Service on the same machine as WAP Admin-Site Portal.

Optionally if you choose to install VConnect API Service on a separate box

o Choose a machine with at least 4 GB RAM, preferably 8 GB

o Ensure that firewall is configured to allow access to port 31101

o Ensure that this machine can talk to the SQL database server on which the VConnect

database will be configured (refer general pre-requisites above)

Installation:

Note: If you are upgrading from a previously supported VConnect installation, we

recommend to take a backup of the VConnect database and obtain the resource

provider username and password settings from VConnect API Service web.config

before proceeding.

For upgrade installations: Uninstall existing VConnect installers from Add or Remove

Programs on the respective machines and install the latest update by following steps

mentioned in the installation steps below.

Download the installer ‘CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.Service.Setup.msi’ from:

http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-

0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.Service.Setup.msi

Click on the installer and follow instructions on the installer and click ‘Next’ till the installer finishes

and then click ‘Finish’ to exit. Sample installer screens shown below:


http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.Service.Setup.msi

http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.Service.Setup.msi



VCONNECT ADMIN EXTENSION INSTALLATION: Logon to the machine on which WAP ‘Admin-Site’ is installed.

Download the installer ‘CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.AdminExtension.Setup.msi’ from:


0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.AdminExtension.Setup.msi

Click on the installer and follow similar steps as mentioned in above section.

Follow the instructions on the installer UI and click ‘Next’ till the installer finishes and then click

‘Finish’ to exit.

VCONNECT TENANT EXTENSION INSTALLATION: Logon to the machine on which WAP ‘Tenant-Site’ is installed.

Download the installer ‘CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.TenantExtension.Setup.msi’ from:


0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.TenantExtension.Setup.msi

Click on the installer and follow similar steps as mentioned in above section.


http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.AdminExtension.Setup.msi

http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.AdminExtension.Setup.msi

http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.TenantExtension.Setup.msi

http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/CloudAssert.WAP.VConnect.TenantExtension.Setup.msi



Follow the instructions on the installer UI and click ‘Next’ till the installer finishes and then click

‘Finish’ to exit.

CONFIGURATION:

Step 1: Update VConnect API Service Password

1. Download VConnect password generator tool:

http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/VConnect.zip

2. Extract it to a local folder.

3. Run command: “VConnect.exe HashPass (YourPassWord)”

4. Navigate to VConnect Install folder. For example: ‘C:\inetpub\MgmtSvc-CloudAssert-VConnect’

5. Open web.config and replace the default password in the appSettings:

<add key="Password" value="CAAAABtqqqlfxzN9GaA7JaDmQyCQOg39+oJKf5S/oX0Brn4lR+V6+Hwq+CE=" />


http://cloudassertdownloads.blob.core.windows.net/vconnect-rtmv1-0/VConnect.zip



6. Save and close web.config file.

Step 2 - Register VConnect Resource Provider with Windows Azure Pack:

Note: If you are upgrading from a previously supported installation, the resource provider registration could be skipped as it might already be registered. If you changed the username or password on the previous step, then do not skip this step and must proceed with updates as mentioned below.

1. Logon to WAP Admin portal, click on VConnect Service on the Left

2. Ignore the ‘Resource Provider is not registered yet!’ and continue

3. Enter the URL for VConnect API Service. For example ‘http://MyVConnectAPIServer:31101’

4. Enter the password you have configured in web.config. NOTE: provide the actual password here, not

the hashed password that you had given in web.config.




5. Optionally change the UserName, but remember this has to match the user name provided in

appSettings of VConnect web.config.

6. Click ‘Register’




7. If the resource provider registration succeeds you will see the following messages. If there are errors,

check the username and password again with web.config of VConnect API service and try again.

Step 3 – Configure database for VConnect

After registering the resource provider successfully, you need to configure the database for VConnect.

1. Ignore the ‘Database not configured yet’ error message and continue to configuring the database.




2. Enter the database server name, user name, password and database name.

3. Click Save.

4. Once the configuration succeeds you will see success messages like below. If you see any errors

double check the database settings and try again.

Note for Upgrades from Licensed V1 RTM: If you are upgrading from a previous installation and if you continue to see DB config update errors: Please recyle the VConnect API Service application pool or IISReset or update the VConnect API Service web.config file found under ‘\inetpub\MgmtSvc-CloudAssert-VConnect\web.config’ to trigger app recycle. If that didn’t help, check the VConnect logs in EventViewer for more details and email [email protected]. Note for Upgrades from Beta Releases or previous Trial Installations: If you continue to see DB configuration errors, this usually means your version of DB is not supported for the current upgrade due to major DB changes. Please create a new DB in SQL Management studio and provide the new DB name in the Settings to configure VConnect fresh and experience all the new awesome features.




5. After the DB Settings are configured you will receive a notification to set the additional settings,

specifically machine settings for executing vSphere PowerCLI commands.




6. Proceed to the next step to configure the Settings for vSphere PowerCLI execution




Step 4: Configure VSphere PowerCLI execution settings

1. Ensure that the target server machine has VSphere PowerCLI:

2. Refer to the General Pre-Requisites section for preparing the machine.

3. Enter the ServerName, User Name, Password. And if you have default WMI ports, then do not select

‘USE HTTPS FOR WMI’ and enter 5985 for ‘POWERSHELL WMI PORT’







STEP 5: OPTIONALLY ENTER BACKUP SETTINGS - You can skip this if you are not planning to enable Backup Feature for your tenants

- If you have default WMI ports, then do not select ‘USE HTTPS FOR WMI’ and enter 5985 for

‘POWERSHELL WMI PORT’. If you have configured HTTPS only then select ‘USE HTTPS FOR WMI’ and

enter the default WMI HTTPS Port 5986 (or the specific port you have configured).




STEP 6: ADD A CONNECTION TO VCENTER

Navigate to the Connections tab and then click ‘Add’ to add a new connection information to a vCenter

cluster.

Enter the following information and click to next step.




VConnect will automatically query vCenter server based on the information provided to retrieve datacenters

and clusters.




If the operation to populate datacenters fail, then double check the values provided in previous step. For

example ensure that the username and password are correct, and that the machine where VConnect API

service is installed has access to vCenter SDK service.

STEP 7: ADD A VM TEMPLATE

VM Templates enable administrators to define the VM Images to expose to tenant users and configure

customization parameters.

Navigate to VM Templates tab and click ‘Add’ to add a new template:




1. After clicking Add, in the resulting dialog, choose a connection and VConnect will auto-populate the

templates to choose from.




After choosing the template, select appropriate OS Platform to set customization options for that platform:




2. Click to next step to enter network Details and DataStore hint and Un-check ‘Is Configurable By

Tenant’




3. Make sure to Un-Check ‘Is Configurable by Tenant’ for the following settings:

- NETWORKNAME

- IPMODE

- IP ADDRESS POOL NAME

- DATASTOREHINT

- AUTOLOGONCOUNT

- CHANGESIDE

- RUN ONCE COMMANDS

- LICENSEMAXCONNECTIONS

- LICENSEMODE

- PRODUCT KEY

And do the same for any other values that should not be overridden by tenant and provide defaults

where possible.




Step 7.2 – Add IP Address Pool

VConnect Update 3 offers built-in IP Address Pool management and allocation.

1. Navigate to IP Pools tab and click ADD.

2. Enter the IP Address Pool information




3. Click to next step and enter Dns list and IP Address Ranges to be used for this Pool.




Step 8 – Create a Plan that includes VConnect Service




1. Create or update a plan to include VConnect Service.




2. Configure quotas to limit Virtual Machine usage for subscriptions by editing the plan settings and click on

VConnect service shown under ‘Plan Services’.

3. Set the desired quota and click Save







STEP 9: TEST ADDING A SUBSCRIPTION WITH VCONNECT:

1. Visit tenant portal, click New My Account and add a subscriptions:

2. Select the plan with VConnect Service:

3. Visit VConnect Service Tab




4. Click on Create a Virtual Machine




Follow the steps to fill the required settings.




After selecting a template, based on the template defined by the administrator, VConnect will show

additional screens to provide customization settings.




If everything is setup correctly, virtual machine will be created successfully. If you run into any errors, check

the error message and double check the setup and configuration above.




STEP 10: ADD A CUSTOM COMMAND

Custom Commands provides the ability for the administrator to define any new functionality for the tenant

users.

1. Navigate to Connections Tab in Admin Portal and click ‘Custom Commands’




2. Click to next step to add a new command

3. Create a folder under: ‘C:\inetpub\MgmtSvc-CloudAssert-VConnect’ in machine where VConnect API

service is installed and in that folder place the script that needs to be executed whenever the

command is invoked by the end user




4. Enter the command Name and provide the path of the script




5. Click on the new command added, shown under Custom Commands

6. Click on Add new parameter to define new parameter to get additional input from users.

7. Enter the details and click ok




8. The parameter will be added. Click on Save.




9. Visit Tenant Portal and navigate to VConnect -> Virtual Machines Tab. Select the Virtual Machine and

click on Commands and select the required command to be executed

10. Enter the parameter values and click ok to execute.




Onboard Existing VMs – Admin Sync: VConnect can sync existing VMs from VSphere to appropriate WAP Tenant Subscriptions. This functionality is

provided for administrators in the VConnect WAP Admin Portal via ‘Sync’ command.

- In order to sync the VMs automatically, administrator has to prepare the VCenter environment

before clicking ‘Sync’

- Step 1: Let the Tenant users sign up for VConnect plan / subscription.

- Step 2: If there is no Folder/resource pool created already in vCenter for the tenant user (if the

tenant has never created a VM, this might happen), then create a Folder/Resource Pool manually in

vSphere for the user in the format of ‘username:WAPSubscriptionID’. For example:

‘[email protected]:6363093a-210a-4050-ac31-0842909997ff’.

o Tenant’s subscription ID can be obtained from the WAP Admin Portal

o Ensure to set the correct Resource Pool quotas for the Tenant when you are creating it

manually in vSphere.

- Step 3: Move the VMs you want to associate with this tenant user under this Folder/Resource Pool

- Step 4: Click ‘Sync’ from the Admin Portal VConnect Connections.




- Note that this is an asynchronous process and there is no notification about the number of VMS

imported. If everything goes well, you will see that the existing VMs appear under tenant users

subscriptions.

- There is also an ability to Auto-Sync the VMs from vSphere. In the VConnect database, in AppSettings

table make the ‘IsAutoSyncSubscriptionAssets’ setting to true which enables the Auto Syncing of

VMs from vSphere

TROUBLESHOOTING:

Contact [email protected] for general support help.

Visit http://www.cloudassert.com/Solutions/V-Connect to get latest updated information about the product.


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.cloudassert.com/Solutions/V-Connect

Documents

VConnect v1 Update 6 Setup Guide - Cloud Assert · - Veeam licenses can be purchased from CLOUD ASSERT along with VConnect licenses. Contact [email protected] for details. -