Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client vCenter Orchestrator 5.5.1 This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com Copyright © 2008–2014 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com 2 VMware, Inc.
Contents Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 5 1 The Orchestrator Client 7 Log in to the Orchestrator Client 7 Orchestrator Client Perspectives 8 Orchestrator Views in the Run Perspective 9 Orchestrator Views in the Design Perspective 9 Orchestrator Views in the Administer Perspective User Preferences 10 Access the Orchestrator API Explorer 12 10 2 Managing Workflows 13 Key Concepts of Workflows 14 Workflow User Permissions 14 Workflow Parameters 14 Workflow Attributes 15 Workflow Schema 15
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client Get a Remote Package 29 Synchronize a Remote Package Remove a Package 30 29 5 Using Authorizations 31 Create an Authorization Element 31 Configure an Authorization Element 31 6 Tagging Objects 33 Tag a Workflow 33 Untag a Workflow 34 View the Tags Assigned to a Workflow Search Objects by Tag 34 Index 4 34 37 VMware, Inc.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client provides information and instructions about performing tasks ® in the VMware vCenter Orchestrator client. Intended Audience This information is intended for advanced vSphere administrators and experienced system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations. VMware, Inc.
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The Orchestrator Client 1 The Orchestrator client is an easy-to-use desktop application. By using the Orchestrator client you can import packages, run and schedule workflows, and manage user permissions. In addition, by using the Orchestrator client you can also develop workflows and actions as well as create packages and resource elements. For more information, see Developing with VMware vCenter Orchestrator.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 4 Log in by using the Orchestrator user name and password. To check the credentials, log in to the Orchestrator configuration interface and check the credentials on the Authentication tab. 5 In the Security Warning window select an option to handle the certificate warning. The Orchestrator client communicates with the Orchestrator server by using an SSL certificate. A trusted CA does not sign the certificate during installation.
Chapter 1 The Orchestrator Client Orchestrator Views in the Run Perspective From the Run perspective in the Orchestrator client, you can schedule tasks, manage policies, run workflows, access the inventory, and manage permissions. View Description My Orchestrator Summarizes the most recent activities on the Orchestrator server, such as recently modified elements, pending and running workflows, running policies, completed workflows, and workflows that are waiting for user interaction.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client Orchestrator Views in the Administer Perspective From the Administer perspective in the Orchestrator client, you can access the inventory and manage authorizations, Web views, and packages. View Description Inventory Displays the objects of the plug-ins that are enabled in Orchestrator. You can use the Inventory view to run workflows on an inventory object. Policy Templates Displays a list of the available master policies.
Chapter 1 The Orchestrator Client Table 1‑1. Orchestrator Client Customization Options (Continued) Option Description Finder maximum size The maximum number of results that the searches return when you search for elements such as actions or workflows. The value must be greater than 0. Check usage when deleting an element (slow) Orchestrator checks whether the element you are trying to delete is referenced by other elements.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client Script Editor Preferences You can customize the scripting engine. For example, you can disable automatic completion of lines, highlight selected lines and brackets, and change the options for default color code formatting. Access the Orchestrator API Explorer Orchestrator provides an API Explorer that you can use to search the Orchestrator API and see the documentation for JavaScript objects that you can use in scripted elements.
Managing Workflows 2 A workflow is a series of actions and decisions that you run sequentially. Orchestrator provides a library of workflows that perform common management tasks according to best practices. Orchestrator also provides libraries of the individual actions that the workflows perform. Workflows combine actions, decisions, and results that, when performed in a particular order, complete a specific task or a specific process in a virtual environment.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client Key Concepts of Workflows Workflows consist of a schema, attributes, and parameters. The workflow schema is the main component of a workflow as it defines all the workflow elements and the logical connections between them. The workflow attributes and parameters are the variables that workflows use to transfer data. Orchestrator saves a workflow token every time a workflow runs, recording the details of that specific run of the workflow.
Chapter 2 Managing Workflows Workflow Attributes Workflow elements process data that they receive as input parameters, and set the resulting data as workflow attributes or output parameters. Read-only workflow attributes act as global constants for a workflow. Writable attributes act as a workflow’s global variables. You can use attributes to transfer data between the elements of a workflow.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client Standard Workflows in the Workflow Library Orchestrator provides a standard library of workflows that you can use to automate operations in the virtual infrastructure. The workflows in the standard library are locked in the read-only state. To customize a standard workflow, you must create a duplicate of that workflow. Duplicate workflows or custom workflows that you create are fully editable.
Chapter 2 Managing Workflows Procedure 1 2 3 Click the Permissions tab. Click the Add access rights icon ( ) to define permissions for a new user group. Search for a user group. The search results contain all the user groups from the Orchestrator LDAP server that match the search. 4 Select a user group and select the appropriate check boxes to set the level of permissions for this user group.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 6 Option Action Resource pool Click Not set for the Resource pool value and navigate through the vCenter Server infrastructure hierarchy to a resource pool. The network to connect to Click Not set for the The network to connect to value and select a network. Press Enter in the Filter text box to see all the available networks.
Chapter 2 Managing Workflows 4 Double-click a workflow that is waiting for input. The workflow token that is waiting for input appears in the Workflows hierarchical list with the following symbol: . 5 Right-click the workflow token and select Answer. 6 Follow the instructions in the input parameters dialog box to provide the information that the workflow requires. You provided information to a workflow that was waiting for user input during its run.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client Edit the Workflow Recurrence Pattern A recurrence pattern is used to specify the way in which a given workflow is scheduled. You can edit the recurrence pattern of a workflow from the Scheduler view. Prerequisites A recurrent workflow that is scheduled. Procedure 1 From the drop-down menu in the Orchestrator client, select Run. 2 Click the Scheduler view. 3 Right-click the scheduled workflow whose recurrence pattern you want to edit and select Edit.
Chapter 2 Managing Workflows 3 Select a workflow version and click Revert to restore the state of the workflow. CAUTION If you have not saved the current workflow version, it is deleted from the version history and you cannot revert back to the current version. The workflow state is reverted to the state of the selected version. Restore Deleted Workflows You can restore workflows that have been deleted from the workflow library.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client The imported workflow appears in the workflow folder that you selected. 22 VMware, Inc.
Managing Policies 3 Policies are event triggers that monitor the activity of the system. Policies respond to predefined events issued by changes in the status or performance of certain defined objects. Policies are a series of rules, gauges, thresholds and event filters that run certain workflows or scripts when specific predefined events occur in Orchestrator or in the technologies that Orchestrator accesses through plug-ins.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 5 Right-click the policy and select Edit. The policy editor opens. 6 On the General tab, edit the startup settings, priority, startup user, and description of the policy. 7 On the Scripting tab, add and remove policy elements, periodic tasks, and trigger events, as well as manage attributes. 8 On the Events and Logs tabs, view information about the policy. 9 On the Permissions tab, add and remove access rights for users or user groups.
Using Packages 4 You can use packages to transport content from one Orchestrator server to another. Packages can contain workflows, actions, policies, Web views, configurations, and resources. When you add an element to a package, Orchestrator checks for dependencies and adds any dependent elements to the package. For example, if you add a workflow that uses actions or other workflows, Orchestrator adds those actions and workflows to the package.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 2 Click the Packages view. 3 Right-click in the left pane and select Add package. 4 Type the name of the new package and click Ok. The syntax for package names is domain.your_company.folder.package_name. For example, com.vmware.myfolder.mypackage. 5 Right-click the package and select Edit. The package editor opens. 6 On the General tab, add a description for the package. 7 On the Workflows tab, add workflows to the package.
Chapter 4 Using Packages 3 Search for a user or user group. The search results show all of the users and user groups that match the search. 4 Select a user or user group. 5 Check the appropriate check boxes to set the level of permissions for this user and click Select. To allow a user to view the elements, inspect the schema and scripting, run and edit the elements, and change the permissions, you must check all check boxes. 6 Click Save and close to exit the editor.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 8 Click Save. You exported the package. You can use the workflows, actions, policies, and Web views from the exported package on another Orchestrator server. Import a Package To reuse workflows, actions, policies, Web views, and configuration elements from one Orchestrator server on another server, you can import them as a package. IMPORTANT Packages that Orchestrator 3.2 generates are compatible with Orchestrator 4.x and 5.x.
Chapter 4 Using Packages Get a Remote Package You can retrieve a package from a remote Orchestrator server. Procedure 1 From the drop-down menu in the Orchestrator client, select Administer. 2 Click the Packages view. 3 Right-click within the left pane and select Get remote package. 4 Log in to the remote server. The Orchestrator Synchronization dialog box opens. It displays the differences between the package elements.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 5 View the comparison between the local and remote package elements and select an option. Option Description None The local and remote elements have the same version number. No synchronization is required. Commit The version of the local element is later. The remote element is overwritten. Update The version of the remote element is later. The local element is updated.
Using Authorizations 5 With authorizations you can manage the permissions of users and user groups over elements of specific types. This chapter includes the following topics: n “Create an Authorization Element,” on page 31 n “Configure an Authorization Element,” on page 31 Create an Authorization Element You can create an authorization element to provide different permissions to users or user groups over elements or specific type.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 2 Click the Authorizations view. 3 Right-click the authorization element that you want to modify and select Edit. The authorization element editor opens. 32 4 (Optional) On the General tab, edit the description of the element. 5 On the References tab, create references to available element types from the tree. 6 On the Permissions tab, set the level of permissions for a user or user group. 7 Click Save and close to exit the editor. VMware, Inc.
Tagging Objects 6 In vCenter Orchestrator, you can make workflows and other URI objects more searchable by attaching tags to them. Tags are strings with length between 3 and 64 characters and must contain no white spaces. Global tags are visible to all Orchestrator users and private tags are visible only to the user who created them. Only users with administrative pivileges can create and remove global tags. You can assign values to the tags that you create.
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client 8 In the Global tag section, click Yes if the tag is global. 9 Click Submit to run the workflow. Untag a Workflow You can delete a remove a tag from a workflow when it is no more needed. You can remove a tag from a workflow by running the Untag workflow workflow. NOTE To remove global tags, you must be logged in as a user with administrative privileges. Procedure 1 Log in to the Orchestrator client.
Chapter 6 Tagging Objects 5 In the Advanced section, specify whether you want to perform search in Advanced mode. Option Action Yes In the Tag filters text box, type a query for multiple tags in JSON format by using the {tag:tag1_name, value:tag1_value}, {tag:tag2_name, value:tag2_value} syntax. No a b 6 VMware, Inc. In the Tag name and the Tag value text boxes, type the name and the value of the tag you want to search.
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Index A action, version 15 actions 14 Actions view 9 Administer perspective 10 API Explorer, accessing 12 attributes 14, 15 audience 5 authorization element configuration 31 creation 31 authorization elements 31 authorizations 31 Authorizations view 10 C configuration elements 15 Configurations view 9 D Design perspective 9 E export workflow 21 I import workflow 21 input parameters 14 Inventory view 9 M My Orchestrator view 7, 9 O Orchestrator client credentials 7 customizing 10 login 7 perspectives
Using the VMware vCenter Orchestrator Client W Web views 10 workflow export 21 import 21 reusing 28 untag 34 version 15 workflow attributes 15 workflow parameters 14 workflow presentation 15 workflow token 15 workflow token attributes 15 workflows library 16 permissions 14, 16 recurrence 20 restoring deleted 21 running 17 scheduling 19 standard 16 version history 20 Workflows view 9 38 VMware, Inc.
