Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client vRealize Orchestrator 7.1 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 vRealize 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 © 2008–2016 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 vRealize Orchestrator Client 1 The Orchestrator Client 7 5 Log In to the Orchestrator Client from the Orchestrator Appliance Web Console Orchestrator Client Perspectives 8 Orchestrator Views in the Run Perspective 8 Orchestrator Views in the Design Perspective 9 Orchestrator Views in the Administer Perspective 9 User Preferences 10 Access the Orchestrator API Explorer 11 7 2 Managing Workflows 13 Key Concepts of Workflows 14 Workflow User Permissions 14 Workflow Parameters 1
Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client Get a Remote Package 28 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 vRealize Orchestrator Client Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client provides information and instructions about performing tasks ® in the VMware vRealize 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 vRealize Orchestrator.
Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client 4 Log in by using the Orchestrator client user name and password. If you are using vRealize Automation authentication, vCenter Single Sign-On, or another directory service as an authentication method, type the respective credentials to log in to the Orchestrator client. 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.
Chapter 1 The Orchestrator Client View Description Policies Displays existing policies. You can use the Policies view to create and apply policies. Workflows Provides access to the Orchestrator workflow library. You can use the Workflows view to view information about each workflow, create, edit, and run workflows, as well as to interact with the workflows. Inventory Displays the objects of the plug-ins that are enabled in Orchestrator.
Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client User Preferences You can customize the options displayed to users of the Orchestrator client by using the User preferences tool. Your preferences are saved on the client side in the vmware-vmo.cfg file. To set preferences, select Tools > User preferences in the Orchestrator client toolbar. From the User preferences tool you can change the following preferences. General Preferences Table 1‑1.
Chapter 1 The Orchestrator Client Table 1‑2. Workflow Editor Customization Options (Continued) Option Description Check unused workflow's parameters/attributes Orchestrator checks whether all parameters and attributes of a workflow are used. Check for unknown types within plug-ins Orchestrator checks whether all parameters and attributes of a workflow are of a known type. Check for legacy actions scripting calls Orchestrator detects legacy actions calls and displays a warning message.
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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 vRealize 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 vRealize 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 vRealize 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 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. Scheduling Workflows You can schedule a workflow to run once, or multiple times using a recurrence pattern. Schedule a Workflow You can schedule a workflow from the Orchestrator client Scheduler or Workflows views.
Using the VMware vRealize 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 vRealize 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 vRealize 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, 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 vRealize 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 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. You created a package and set the appropriate user permissions.
Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client You exported the package. You can use the workflows, actions, and policies from the exported package on another Orchestrator server. Import a Package To reuse workflows, actions, policies, and configuration elements from one Orchestrator server on another server, you can import them as a package. Prerequisites n Back up any standard Orchestrator elements that you have modified.
Chapter 4 Using Packages 4 Log in to the remote server. The Orchestrator Synchronization dialog box opens. It displays the differences between the package elements. To view only elements that are different on the local and remote server, select Hide identical from the drop-down menu. 5 Select the package that you want and click Import. 6 View the remote package elements and select an option. Option Description None Does not import the element.
Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client The synchronized package is reloaded. What to do next You can use the updated package content in workflows, actions, and policies. Remove a Package Workflows and actions, as well as other resources, can be reused in many packages. This is why, before you remove a package, you must decide whether to delete the workflows, actions, policies and other resources contained in the package.
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 vRealize 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 vRealize 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 vRealize 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 9 API Explorer, accessing 11 attributes 14, 15 audience 5 authorization element configuration 31 creation 31 authorization elements 31 authorizations 31 Authorizations view 9 C configuration elements 15 Configurations view 9 D Design perspective 9 E export workflow 21 I import workflow 21 input parameters 14 Inventory view 8, 9 digital rights management 25 exporting 27 getting 28 importing 28 permissions 26 removing 30 restric
Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client V version history 15 W 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 8, 9 38 VMware, Inc.
