Before you can create an on-premises extensibility action integration or Automation Orchestrator 8.x integration for VMware Aria Automation, you must deploy a cloud extensibility proxy on your vCenter Server or VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC) library.

The cloud extensibility proxy is a virtual appliance (VA) used in the configuration of the on-premises extensibility action integrations and VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator 8.x integrations in Automation Assembler.

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 the following URLs are accessible:
    • ci-data-collector.s3.amazonaws.com – enables Amazon Web Services S3 access for cloud proxy OVA download.
    • symphony-docker-external.jfrog.io – allows JFrog Artifactory to access Docker images.
    • console.cloud.vmware.com – enables the Web API and cloud proxy service connection to the VMware Cloud service.
    • data.mgmt.cloud.vmware.com – enables the data pipeline service connection to VMware Cloud services for secure data communication between cloud and on-premises elements. For non-US regions, substitute the region value. For example, for the UK, use uk.data.mgmt.cloud.vmware.com and for Japan, use ja.data.mgmt.cloud.vmware.com. Other non-US region values include sg (Singapore), br (Brazil), and ca (Canada).
    • api.mgmt.cloud.vmware.com – enables the Web API and cloud proxy service connection to VMware Cloud services. For non-US regions, substitute the region value. For example, for the UK, use uk.api.mgmt.cloud.vmware.com and for Japan, use ja.api.mgmt.cloud.vmware.com. Other non-US region values include sg (Singapore), br (Brazil), and ca (Canada).
    • The cloud extensibility proxy connects to VMware Cloud services through the API gateway or through the data pipeline service. All connections require TLS 1.2 over communications port 443.

Procedure

  1. Select Infrastructure > Connections > Integrations.
  2. Click Add Integration.
  3. Depending on the integration type, select Extensibility Actions On Prem or Orchestrator.
    The New Integration page opens.
  4. Select New Cloud Extensibility Proxy.
  5. Download the cloud extensibility proxy OVA or copy the provided link.
    Note: Keep the Install Cloud Extensibility Proxy page in Automation Assembler open. You must return to this page for a later step in the cloud extensibility proxy deployment.
  6. Navigate to your vSphere Client data center, click the name of your vCenter Server cluster, and select Deploy OVF Template.
    Note: You can also deploy the cloud extensibility proxy OVA on VMC. See Deploy a VM from an OVF Template in a Content Library in Managing the VMware Cloud™ on AWS Data Center.
  7. Enter the deployment information as prompted.
  8. Configure the network settings of the cloud extensibility proxy.
    1. For your network configuration, you must use a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that can be resolved in reverse and forward DNS lookups.
      Note: If the host name displayed in the shell of the deployed cloud extensibility proxy is photon-machine, the network is not configured correctly.
    2. (Optional) Enter the IP address/hostname, port, and credentials of your network proxy.
    3. Enter a display name for the remote data collector (RDC).
      Note: The display name you enter for your RDC is used to identify the cloud extensibility proxy in the Cloud Proxies page of Automation Assembler.
    4. Return to the Install Cloud Extensibility Proxy page in Automation Assembler and copy the key provided in step 3.
    5. Return to the vSphere Client and paste the key in the VMware Cloud Services One Time Key (OTK) text box.
    6. Click Next.
  9. Review the deployment information and click Finish.
  10. After the deployment finishes, power on the cloud extensibility proxy.
    The cloud extensibility proxy automatically downloads and configures the components needed for your on-premises extensibility action integration or VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator 8.x integration. This process can take up to 30 minutes to finish.
  11. In Automation Assembler, navigate to Infrastructure > Connections > Cloud Proxies.
  12. Click the name of your cloud extensibility proxy.
  13. Validate that the status of the vro-agent and cloudassembly-abx-agent service proxies is RUNNING.
  14. For VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator integrations, verify that the components are up and running.
    1. Navigate to https://my_extensibility_va_FQDN.com/vco-controlcenter.
    2. Log in as root.
    3. Select Validate Configuration, and confirm that the VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator components are up and running.

Results

You can now use the deployed cloud extensibility proxy in configuring your on-premises extensibility action integration or VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator 8.x integration.

What to do next

You can configure your cloud extensibility proxy to use an external network proxy.

  1. Log in to the cloud extensibility proxy command line as root.
  2. Run the /opt/scripts/updateProxy.sh script.
    Note: The only required parameter in the /opt/scripts/updateProxy.sh script is --proxy. You can see all available script parameters by running the /opt/scripts/updateProxy.sh --help command. For example, the optional parameter noProxy is used to specify a list of hosts you want to exclude from the configured proxy. The following example includes several of the optional parameters you can include in the /opt/scripts/updateProxy.sh script: 
    updateProxy.sh --proxy <your_proxy_URL> --user <your_proxy_user> --pass <your_proxy_password> --updateInternalProxy --redeploy

You can also back up your cloud extensibility proxy with a snapshot which you can use to restore the proxy.

  1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
  2. Take a snapshot of the cloud extensibility proxy.
    Note: Verify that the Include the virtual machine's memory and Quiesce guest file system(requires VM tools) option values are set to No.
  3. To restore your cloud extensibility proxy, revert the node from the snapshot you took.
  4. Power on the cloud extensibility proxy node.

If you encounter problems with your cloud extensibility proxy, go to KB 93142.