In a previous blog post I wrote about deploying vRealize Automation from VMware Cloud Foundation. After the base deployment you end up with a very basic vRealize Automation installation. The next step would be to start configuring this environment to suit your needs. If you plan to have 1 or more workload domains in VCF you can choose to connect these to the deployed vRealize Automation installation. Note that this is currently (I’m using VCF 3.9) only supported for workload domains that run NSX-V. If you run NSX-T powered workload domains you need to setup the connection manually.
What does this mean
Connecting a workload domain to vRealize Automation, what does that actually mean? When you are done deploying vRA nothing is configured yet. To start using a workload domain as a deployment target for vRA you need connect the workload domain vCenter server to vRA. And because you have a vCenter as an endpoint, you also need some proxy agents. This is exactly what happens when you connect a workload domain. The vCenter and NSX-V endpoints get created and the corresponding vCenter agents get installed on the deployed proxy agent Windows VM’s.
Connecting to vRealize Automation
To start connecting a workload domain you obviously need one. So if you do not have a workload domain yet, now is the time to create one.
Next go to the vRealize Suite section in SDDC Manager and select vRealize Automation.
If you have deployed a workload domain the connect button will be ‘active’ and you can now click on it to start.
Select the workload domain(s) you wish to add and click next.
Review your selection and click finish.
The process will now start and it will go through all these tasks. Note that it is using vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager in the back to perform the tasks.
It is possible to follow along in vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager.
After everything is green and the process completed successfully we should be able to see the endpoints configured in vRA.
The corresponding proxy agents are also installed with the correct endpoint name (which is still a prerequisite for vRA agent <> endpoint connections). This has been done on the Windows Proxy Agent servers.
Conclusion
That was a fast and easy way to connect a workload domain in VCF to the vRealize Automation installation. On of the advantages using this proces is that you cannot mess up when naming your agents.
The next steps are all done from within vRA. These include things line creating fabric groups, business groups and reservations and are all done in the regular fashion. For more information on this, check out the online documentation.
