Here are common questions and answers about the new VMware Aria Automation plug-in based design and provisioning process.
Q: What's the benefit of separate allocation versus defining it directly under a resource?
A: The new allocation process is generic and provides a central point of change, where one group of settings can determine allocation for many resources.
Q: Does the new allocation process have the same capabilities as the current one?
A: The new process is expected to eventually support all of the capabilities of the current one. The early phases have limitations though. For example, the network helper currently only supports existing and public networks.
Q: Does the new allocation process support public or private clouds?
A: It's currently only for public clouds.
Q: On the canvas, allocation helpers look like resources. Are they?
A: No. Allocation helpers aren't provisioned and don't appear at the cloud provider as something that you use or manage.
Q: Can non-plug-in resources use allocation helpers?
A: In addition to plug-in resources, helpers are compatible with Terraform and custom resources. They don't work with classic resources.
Q: Are allocation helpers mandatory?
A: No. You might choose to directly use cloud provider properties for settings, instead of allocation helpers.
Q: Can you use one allocation helper for multiple zones, so that placement automatically adjusts if a zone reaches its limit?
A: The current feature doesn't support limits. When provisioning to different zones with the same tag, allocation selects only one, which is the same behavior as the classic allocation algorithm.
Q: For resources of the same type, can one allocation helper apply to them all?
A: Yes. If you have five virtual machines on one network allocation helper, all of the machines are connected to the same network.
Q: If a cloud provider adds a new property to some resource, does the property automatically appear for selection in Automation Assembler?
A: Not immediately. The new resource must be added to the associated cloud provider plug-in.
Q: Are Day 2 actions supported for resources provisioned with the new process?
A: Only a basic set of Day 2 actions are supported in the initial phases.
Q: When should you use plug-in resources versus classic?
A: You can use them interchangeably, but plug-in resources offer more flexibility in the long run. You'll eventually see more resources from more public clouds, and they'll be updated more frequently.
Q: Can you provision classic and new resources from the same template?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you connect a classic resource to an allocation helper?
A: No. The helpers are for resources that don't support allocation natively. When a resource already supports allocation natively (such as a classic cloud-agnostic virtual machine, disk, load balancer, or network) there's no need for allocation helpers.
