Add an external IPAM integration for Infoblox in VMware Aria Automation

VMware Aria Automation supports integration with an external IPAM provider. This example uses Infoblox as the external IPAM provider.

You can use a provider-specific IPAM integration point to obtain and manage IP addresses and related network characteristics for cloud template deployments.

In this example, you create an external IPAM integration point to support access to your organization's account with an external IPAM provider. In this example workflow, the IPAM provider is Infoblox and the provider-specific integration package already exists. While these instructions are specific to an Infoblox integration, they can be used as reference if creating an IPAM integration for a different external IPAM provider.

You can obtain a provider-specific integration package from your IPAM provider's website or the VMware Marketplace.

This example uses the VMware-supplied Infoblox package Infoblox.zip, which is available for download from the VMware Marketplace, for example the Aria Automation Infoblox Plugin 1.5. For information about the latest Infoblox plug-in versions that are available in the VMware Marketplace, see Download and deploy an external IPAM provider package for use in VMware Aria Automation.

Prerequisites

• Verify that you have cloud administrator credentials. See Credentials required for working with cloud accounts in VMware Aria Automation.
• Verify that you have the cloud administrator user role. See What are the VMware Aria Automation user roles.
• Verify that you have an account with external IPAM provider and that you have the correct access credentials to your organization's account with the IPAM provider.
• Verify that you have access to a deployed integration package for your IPAM provider. The deployed package is initially obtained as a .zip download from your IPAM provider website, or from the VMware solutions exchange marketplace, and then deployed to VMware Aria Automation.

  For information about how to download and deploy the provider package .zip file and make it available as a Provider value on the IPAM Integration page, see Download and deploy an external IPAM provider package for use in VMware Aria Automation.

• Verify that you have access to a configured running environment for the IPAM provider. The running environment is typically an actions-based extensibility (ABX) On-Prem Embedded integration point.

  For information about running environment characteristics, see Create a running environment for an IPAM integration point in VMware Aria Automation.

• Enable required extensible attributes in your Infoblox application. See Add required extensible attributes in the Infoblox application for integration with VMware Aria Automation.
• If you do not have external Internet access, you can configure an Internet server proxy. See How do I configure an Internet proxy server for VMware Aria Automation.
• Verify that you have the required user credentials to access and use your Infoblox IPAM product. For example, open the Administration tab in the Infoblox appliance and customize administrator, groups, and roles entries. You must be a member of a group that has administrator or superuser permissions or a custom group that has DHCP, DNS, IPAM, and Grid permissions. These settings allow access to all the functionality that is available in the Infoblox plug-in, enabling you to create an Infoblox IPAM integration and designers to use that IPAM integration in cloud templates and deployments. For more information about user permissions, see your Infoblox product documentation.

Procedure

1. Select Infrastructure > Connections > Integrations and click Add Integration.
2. Click IPAM.
3. In the Provider drop-down, select a configured IPAM provider package from the list, for example Infoblox_hrg.

   If the list is empty, click Import Provider Package, navigate to an existing provider package .zip file, and select it. If you do not have the provider .zip file, you can obtain it from your IPAM provider's web site or from the VMware Marketplace.

   For information about how to deploy the provider package .zip file in vCenter and make it available as a Provider value on the Integration page, see Download and deploy an external IPAM provider package for use in VMware Aria Automation.

   For information about how to upgrade an existing IPAM integration to use a more recent version of a vendor's IPAM integration package, see How to upgrade to a newer external IPAM integration package in VMware Aria Automation.

4. Enter your administrator user name and password credentials for your account with the external IPAM provider, along with all other (if any) mandatory fields, such as the host name of your provider.
   In this example, you obtain the host name of your Infoblox IPAM provider using the following steps:

   1. In a separate browser tab, log in to your IPAM provider account using your Infoblox administrator credentials.
   2. Copy your host name URL.
   3. Paste your host name URL in the Hostname field on the IPAM Integration page.
5. In the Running Environment drop-down list, select an existing on-premises actions-based extensibility integration point, for example Infoblox_abx_intg.

   The running environment supports communication between VMware Aria Automation and the external IPAM provider.

   Note: If you use an Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure cloud account as the integration running environment, be sure that the IPAM provider appliance is accessible from the Internet and is not behind a NAT or firewall and that it has a publicly resolvable DNS name. If the IPAM provider is not accessible, the Amazon Web Services Lambda or Microsoft Azure Functions cannot connect to it and the integration will fail. For related information, see Create a running environment for an IPAM integration point in VMware Aria Automation.

   The IPAM framework only supports an actions-based extensibility (ABX) On-Prem Embedded running environment.

   Note: An Infoblox IPAM integration point requires an actions-based extensibility (ABX) On-Prem Embedded integration point.

   The configured cloud account or integration point allows communication between VMware Aria Automation and the IPAM provider, in this example Infoblox, through an associated cloud extensibility proxy. You can select a provider that has already been created or you can create one.

   For information about how to create a running environment, see Create a running environment for an IPAM integration point in VMware Aria Automation.

6. Click Validate.
   Because this example uses the on-premises actions-based extensibility integration for the running environment, you can view the validation action.

   1. Click the Extensibility tab.
   2. Click Activity > Action Runs and select either All Runs or Integration runs from the filter to note that an endpoint validation action is initiated and running.
7. When prompted to trust the self-signed certificate from the IPAM provider, click Accept.
   After you accept the self-signed certificate, the validation action can continue to completion.
8. Enter a Name for this IPAM integration point, such as Infoblox_Integration, and a Description, such as Infoblox IPAM with ABX integration for team HRG.
9. Click Add to save the new external IPAM integration point.
   A data collection action is initiated. Networks and IP ranges are data-collected from the IPAM provider. You can view the data collection action as follows:

   1. Click the Extensibility tab.
   2. Click Activity > Action Runs and note that a data collection action is initiated and running. You can open and view the action run content.
   3. If no action runs are displayed, click the User Runs drop-down menu and select Integration Runs.

Results

The provider-specific external IPAM integration is now available for use with networks and network profiles.