Before managing the objects in your vSphere inventory by using Automation Orchestrator and to run workflows on the objects, you must configure the vCenter plug-in and define the connection parameters between Automation Orchestrator and the vCenter instances you want to orchestrate.

You can configure the vCenter plug-in by running the vCenter configuration workflows from the Automation Orchestrator Client. See Configuration Workflows

Configure the Connection to a vCenter Instance

You can configure the connections to vCenter instances by running the vCenter configuration workflows in the Automation Orchestrator client.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the Automation Orchestrator Client as an administrator.
  2. Navigate to Library > Workflows and enter the vcenter and configuration tags in the workflow search box.
  3. Locate the Add a vCenter Server instance workflow and click Run.
  4. On the Set the vCenter Server instance properties tab, enter the IP address or the host name of the machine on which the vCenter instance you want to add is installed.
    Note: The host name that you enter is case-sensitive.
  5. Retain the default port value, 443.
  6. Retain the default location of the SDK to use to connect to your vCenter instance.
  7. Select whether you want to ignore certificate warnings for the vCenter instances that you want to add.
    If you decide to ignore certificate warnings, the vCenter instance certificate is accepted silently and the certificate is added to the trusted store.
  8. On the Set the connection properties tab, select whether you want to use a session per user method to manage user access on the vCenter system.
    Option Description
    Share a unique session

    Select if Automation Orchestrator does not use the same PSC as an authentication provider as the vCenter server instance that you want to orchestrate.

    Allows Automation Orchestrator to create only one connection to vCenter.

    In the User name and Password text boxes, enter the credentials for Automation Orchestrator to use to establish the connection to the vCenter host.

    The user that you select must be a valid user with privileges to manage vCenter extensions and a set of custom defined privileges. Automation Orchestrator uses these credentials to monitor the VirtualCenter Web service, typically to run Automation Orchestrator system workflows.

    Session per user

    Select if Automation Orchestrator and your vCenter Server use the same PSC as an authentication provider.

    Creates a session to vCenter.
    Note: This action might rapidly use CPU, memory, and bandwidth.
    The user account that you select is also used by the policy engine to collect statistical and other data. If the user that you select does not have enough privileges, the policy engine cannot access the necessary parts of the vCenter inventory and cannot collect the necessary data.
  9. (Optional) Enter the user domain.
    You must specify the user domain name only when you select to use a shared session.
    Note: Fill this text box if Session per user is selected.
  10. (Optional) On the Additional Endpoints tab, enter the URLs for the vSphere storage management endpoints.
    You can configure the Policy-Based Management (PBM) endpoint, the Storage Monitoring Service (SMS) endpoint, or both.
    1. Enter the URL of PBM endpoint. The default vSphere 6.5 PBM endpoint URL is https://vSphereHostName:443/pbm.
    2. Enter the URL of SMS endpoint. The default vSphere 6.5 SMS endpoint URL is https://vSphereHostName:443/sms/sdk.
  11. Click Run.

Results

After the workflow runs successfully, the vCenter instance and all vSphere objects that belong to it appear in the Inventory view.