Create project-by-project custom names for deployed resources in Automation Assembler

As a cloud or project administrator, you can create an individual naming template in each Automation Assembler project.

As a cloud or project administrator where you defined resource custom naming templates at the project level prior to March 2022/8.7.1, you have the option to continue to use the method described below or you can convert your current templates to the new global templates for your organization and projects.

• For more information about enrolling in to the global templates, see Custom naming deployed resources in Automation Assembler.
• For more information about creating global custom naming templates, see Create global custom naming for deployed resources in Automation Assembler.

If you never created custom naming templates or are new to Automation Assembler, you only have the global option.

To proceed with this method, consider the following example. Your host naming convention is to prefix a resource as projectname-sitecode-costcenter-whereDeployed-identifier. You configure the custom naming template for the machines for each project. Some of the template variables are pulled from the system as it is deployed, other are based on project custom properties. The custom naming template for the above prefix looks similar to the following example.

${project.name}-${resource.siteCode}-${resource.costCenter}-${endpoint.name}-${######} 

The identifier, provided in the template as ${######}, shows a six digit identifier. The identifier is a counter that ensures uniqueness. The counter is global for the organization and increments across all projects, not only the current project. When you have multiple projects, do not expect a sequence from 000123 to 000124 for deployments in you current project. You can expect an increment from 000123 to 000127.

All resource names must be unique. To ensure uniqueness, use the incremental number property. The numbers increment for all deployments, including deployments that Automation Assembler names. As your system becomes more robust, and because the system applies custom names to many resource types, the numbering can appear random, but the values still ensure uniqueness. The numbers also increment when you run a test deployment.

The following list is a sample of where the custom names are applied. The list is not meant to be definitive.

Table 1. Sample list of resources to which custom names are applied

Resource Group	Resource Types
Virtual machines	Cloud.Machine Cloud.vSphere.Machine Cloud.AWS.EC2.Instance Cloud.GCP.Machine Cloud.Azure.Machine
Load balancers	Cloud.LoadBalancer Cloud.NSX.LoadBalancer
Networks	Cloud.Network Cloud.vSphere.Network Cloud.NSX.Network
Security groups	Cloud.SecurityGroup
Disks	Cloud.Volume Cloud.vSphere.Disk Cloud.AWS.Volume Cloud.GCP.Disk Cloud.Azure.Disk
NSX	Cloud.NSX.Gateway Cloud.NSX.NAT
Microsoft Azure	Cloud.Azure.ResourceGroup

In addition to the examples provided here, you can also add the user name, the image that is used, other built-in options, and simple strings. As you build the template, hints regarding possible options are provided.

Remember that some of the values you see are only use case examples. You won't be able to use them letter-by-letter in your environment. Think about where you would make your own substitutions, or extrapolate from the example values, in order to fit your own cloud infrastructure and deployment management needs.

Prerequisites

• Verify that you know the naming convention that you want to use for deployments from a project.
• This procedure assumes you have or can create a simple cloud template that you use to test your custom host prefix naming.

Procedure

1. Select Infrastructure > Projects.
2. Select an existing project or create a new one.
3. On the Provisioning tab, locate the Custom Properties section and create the properties for the site code and cost center values.
   This is where you replace the values you see here with ones pertinent to your environment.
   
   
   1. Create a custom property with the name siteCode and the value BGL.
   2. Add another custom property with the name costCenter and the value IT-research.
4. Locate the Custom Naming section and add the following template.

   ${project.name}-${resource.siteCode}-${resource.costCenter}-${endpoint.name}-${######} 

   You can copy in the string, but if this is your first naming template, consider using the hint text and quick select as you build the template.
5. Deploy a cloud template associated with the project to verify that the custom name is applied to the resource.
   1. Click the Design tab, and then click a cloud template associated with the project.
   2. Deploy the cloud template.
      The Deployments page opens, showing your deployment in process.
   3. When deployment is completed, click the deployment name.
   4. On the Topology tab, notice that your custom name is the resource name in the right pane.
      
      
      
6. If you deployed a test cloud template to verify the naming convention, you can delete the deployment.

What to do next

Create custom naming templates for your other projects.