Run command can perform operations that normally require elevated privileges through a collection of PowerShell cmdlets. See the following list for VMware Cloud Director Availability, how to use them and a detailed description of the required input parameters.

See the following procedures for how to use each Run command for VMware Cloud Director Availability in the Azure VMware Solution environment.

Table 1. VMware Cloud Director Availability Run command
Run command Description
Get-VCDAReport

Get a status report from VMware Cloud Director Availability.
Initialize-AVSSite

This initial command prepares the SDDC on Azure VMware Solution for VMware Cloud Director Availability installation. Creates vSphere service account, role, group, generate password.
Install-VCDAAVS

Once the Azure VMware Solution site is initialized, install and configure a VMware Cloud Director Availability instance. Finish with a production-ready site, consisting of a Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance, a Tunnel Appliance and two Replicator Appliance instances.
Install-VCDAReplicator

Install and configure additional Replicator Appliance instances in Azure VMware Solution, in addition to the initially-installed two Replicator Appliance instances.

New-VCDAVMSnapshot

Create a snapshot of a VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine.

Remove-VCDAVMSnapshot

Remove a snapshot of a VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine.
Repair-LocalReplicator

Repair all local Replicator Appliance instances in the cloud site with the Manager Service. This Run command does not repair any remote Replicator Appliance instances.
Repair-LookupService

Repair vCenter Server Lookup service for all VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances, usually required once the vCenter Server Lookup service certificate or address changes.
Reset-ServiceAccountPassword

Reset the password of vSphere service account that is used by VMware Cloud Director Availability, and repair all Replicator Appliance instances with the new password. All Replicator Appliance instances must be in powered-on state.
Reset-VCDARootPassword

Reset the root user password of all or any given VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine. By default the password changes only if it expires within the next 30 days.
Start-VCDAVM

Power on all or given VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine in Azure VMware Solution. By default all virtual machines that are not powered-on are powered-on.
Stop-VCDAVM

Stop all (Default) or given VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine in Azure VMware Solution. Without any parameter all VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines shut down gracefully.
Uninstall-VCDAAVS

Delete all VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines, any custom roles, folders and accounts used by VMware Cloud Director Availability. All virtual machines must be in powered-off state.
Note:

* Required field for all the following tables.

Get-VCDAReport

Get a VMware Cloud Director Availability status report.

Table 2. Get-VCDAReport
Option Description Defaults

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the run command execution status

Timeout*

Operation timeout

30 min

Install-VCDAReplicator

Install and configure new VMware Cloud Director AvailabilityReplicator Appliance virtual machine in the Azure VMware Solution environment.

When installing an additional Replicator Appliance instance, in addition to the first and second instances, you must use one of the predefined virtual machine names:

  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-03
  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-04
  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-05
  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-06
Procedure
Table 3. Install-VCDAReplicator
Option

Description

Defaults

Datastore*

Name of the datastore to be used for deployment of the appliances. The VMware Cloud Director Availability .ova file must be available in the same Datastore.

Cluster*

Name of the destination vSphere cluster to be used for deployment of the VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances.

ReplicatorIPAddress*

IPv4 address in CIDR notation, for example, 192.168.0.224/24, to be used for deployment of the first (1st) Replicator Appliance.

ReplicatorHostname*

Hostname of the first (1st) Replicator Appliance.

ReplicatorGW*

Gateway IP address for the 1st and the 2nd Replicator Appliance instances.

ReplicatorNetwork*

Name of the vSphere network to be used for deployment of the 1st and the 2nd Replicator Appliance instances.

NTPServer*

NTP server address to be used for all VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances.

DNSServer*

Comma-separated list of DNS servers to be used for all appliances, for example, 192.168.1.1,192.168.1.2.

SearchDomain*

List of search domain for all appliances, for example, domain1.local,domain2.local.

OVAFilename*

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability .ova file, located in a folder of the same datastore where the appliances are about to be deployed, for example, VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability-Provider-release.number.xxxxxxx-build_sha_OVF10.ova.

VMName

 Name of the Replicator Appliance VM, must match any of the predefined virtual machine names:
  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-03
  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-04
  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-05
  • VCDA-AVS-Replicator-06

AcceptEULA*

 Accept the VMware Cloud Director Availability End User License Agreement.

False

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

 Name used to follow the run command execution status.

Timeout*

 Operation timeout.

30 min

New-VCDAVMSnapshot

Create a virtual machine snapshot of a VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine.

If no VMName is provided it takes snapshots of all the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines.

The limit is two snapshots. If a virtual machine already has two snapshots, then no new snapshots are created.

Procedure
Table 4. New-VCDAVMSnapshot
Option Description Defaults

VMName

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine to snapshot.

Name

Enter a name for the new snapshot.

Quisce

If the value is $true and the virtual machine is powered-on, VMware Tools are used to quiesce the file system of the virtual machine.

This assures that a disk snapshot represents a consistent state of the guest file systems. If the virtual machine is powered-off or VMware Tools are not available, the quiesce parameter is ignored.

False

Memory

If the value is $true and if the virtual machine is powered-on, the memory state of the virtual machine is preserved with the snapshot.

False
Retain up to

60 days
Specify name for execution* Name used to follow the run command execution status.
Timeout* Operation timeout

30 min

Remove-VCDAVMSnapshot

Remove a snapshot of a VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine, and to get a list of the available snapshots run Get-VCDAReport.

By default, this Run command deletes all snapshots from all VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines.

To filter which snapshots are removed, use a combination of different parameters.

Running the command without a Confirm parameter only lists the snapshots that are to be deleted but does not delete them.
Procedure
Table 5. Remove-VCDAVMSnapshot
Option Description Defaults

VMName

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine to snapshot.

Name

Name of the snapshots that you want to delete.

Id

Id of the snapshots that you want to delete.

Confirm

Confirm that the snapshots of the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines are to be deleted.

When not True, the command lists the snapshots that are to be deleted but does not delete any snapshots.

False

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the run command execution status

Timeout*

Operation timeout

30 min

Repair-LocalReplicator

Repair all local VMware Cloud Director AvailabilityReplicator Appliance instances in the cloud site with the Manager Service on the Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance.

By default repairs all Replicator Appliance instances. Alternatively, use the VMName parameter to repair a specific Replicator Appliance instance. No remote Replicator Appliance instances can be repaired using this Run command.

Use this Run command after the service account password changes or after renewing a Replicator Appliance certificate.

Procedure
Table 6. Repair-LocalReplicator
Option Description Defaults

VMName

Name of the Replicator Appliance virtual machine.

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the run command execution status.

Timeout*

Operation timeout.

30 min

Repair-LookupService

Repair the vCenter Server Lookup service for the VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances. By default, repairs the service for all of the appliances. Alternatively, to repair a single appliance, specify the VMName parameter.

Use this Run command after renewing the certificate of the vCenter Server Lookup service or after its address changes.

Procedure
Table 7. Repair-LookupService

Option

Description

Defaults

VMName

Name of a VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine.

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the Run command execution status.

Timeout*

Operation timeout.

30 min
What to do next

  • Log in to the VMware Cloud Director Availability management interface and validate the health status of the system services.

  • If needed, run the Repair-LocalReplicator command.

Reset-ServiceAccountPassword

Reset the password of the vSphere service account that is used by VMware Cloud Director Availability, and repair all Replicator Appliance instances with the new password.

Prerequisites
Verify that all Replicator Appliance virtual machines are in powered-on state. If any instance is destined to remain unavailable, set the force parameter to True.
Procedure
Table 8. Reset-ServiceAccountPassword

Option

Description

Defaults

force

Resets the service account password, even when not all Replicator Appliance instances are in powered-on state.

False

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the run command execution status.

Timeout*

Operation timeout.

30 min

Reset-VCDARootPassword

Reset the root password of all or any given VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine. By default, the password resets only if it expires within the next 30 days, unless you configure the force parameter to True.

Procedure
Table 9. Reset-VCDARootPassword

Option

Description

Defaults

force

When True, resets the password regardless if it expires in the next 30 days.

False

VMName

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine on which the password must be reset.

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the Run command execution status.

Timeout*

Operation timeout.

30 min

Start-VCDAVM

Power-on all or a given VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine in the Azure VMware Solution environment.

By default, powers-on all virtual machines that are not in powered-on state. Alternatively, to power-on a specific virtual machine, use the VMName parameter.

Procedure
Table 10. Start-VCDAVM

Option

Description

Defaults

VMName

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine to power-on.

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the Run command execution status.

Timeout*

Operation timeout.

30 min

Stop-VCDAVM

Stop all or a specific VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine in the Azure VMware Solution environment.

By default, without any parameter shuts down all the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines gracefully.
Procedure
Table 11. Stop-VCDAVM

Option

Description

Defaults

force

True: power-off. False: graceful shutdown.

False

VMName

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machine to shutdown.

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the Run command execution status.

Timeout*

Operation timeout.

30 min

Uninstall-VCDAAVS

Delete all VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines, any custom roles, folders, and accounts used by VMware Cloud Director Availability. Requires all virtual machines to be in powered-off state.

Procedure
Table 12. Uninstall-VCDAAVS

Option

Description

Defaults

AcceptUninstall

Confirm accepting that all VMware Cloud Director Availability virtual machines, any custom roles, folders and accounts used by VMware Cloud Director Availability are all going to be deleted.

False

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the Run command execution status.

Timeout*

Operation timeout.

30 min

Initialize-AVSSite

Prepare the Azure VMware Solution site to accept the deployment of VMware Cloud Director Availability:

This Run command prepares the SDDC and the Azure VMware Solution environment for VMware Cloud Director Availability installation. Creates and sets vSphere service account, role, group and privileges.

Prerequisites
Verify that you can access the Microsoft Azure Portal by using an account with sufficient privileges for using the Azure VMware Solution service.
Procedure
Table 13. Initialize-AVSSite
Option Description Defaults

Retain up to

60 days

Specify name for execution*

Name used to follow the run command execution status

Timeout*

Operation timeout

30 min
What to do next
Install and configure a VMware Cloud Director Availability instance on Azure VMware Solution by running the Install-VCDAAVS command.

Install-VCDAAVS

Install and configure a VMware Cloud Director Availability instance in Azure VMware Solution. Before running Install-VCDAAVS, the Azure VMware Solution site must be prepared by running the Initialize-AVSSite command.

This Run command installs a VMware Cloud Director Availability instance, consisting of a Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance, a Tunnel Appliance and two Replicator Appliance instances. You must Read and Accept the VMware Cloud Director Availability End User License Agreement

Prerequisites
  • Verify that the VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability-Provider-release.number.xxxxxxx-build_sha_OVF10.ova version 4.7 or later is uploaded and accessible on the datastore.
  • Verify that the subnet, DNS zone and records for the VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances are configured.
  • Verify that the subnet has outbound internet connectivity to communicate with VMware Cloud Director service , remote VMware Cloud Director Availability sites or/and Upgrade registery.
  • Verify that the DNS zone has forwarding for the public addresses supposed to be reached by VVMware Cloud Director Availability outside of the local network segment.

  • Verify that the Cloud Director service is associated, and Transport Proxy is configured with the Azure VMware Solution private cloud SDDC.

  • Verify that the required system users, roles and privileges are already initialized by Initialize-AVSSite.

Procedure
Table 14. Install-VCDAAVS
Option Description Defaults

License*

Valid license key for VMware Cloud Director Availability.

SiteName*

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability site, cannot be changed after installation. Only Latin alphanumerical characters and "-" are allowed in site name.

PublicApiEndpoint*

VMware Cloud Director AvailabilityPublic Service Endpoint address, for example, https://VCDA-FQDN:443.

VCDApiEndpoint*

VMware Cloud Director service endpoint URL, for example, https://Cloud-Director-IP-Address:443/api.

VCDUser*

User name of a System administrator user in VMware Cloud Director service. For example, use administrator@system.

VCDPassword*

Password of the VMware Cloud Director serviceSystem administrator user.
Datastore*

Name of the datastore to be used for deployment of the appliances. The VMware Cloud Director Availability .ova file must be available in the same datastore.
Cluster*

Name of the destination vSphere cluster to be used for the deployment of the VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances.
ManagerIPAddress*

IPv4 address in CIDR notation, for example, 192.168.0.222/24 to be used for deployment of the Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance.
ManagerGW*

Gateway IP address for the Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance.
ManagerHostname*

Hostname of the Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance.
ManagerNetwork*

Name of the vSphere network to be used for deployment of the Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance.
TunnelIPAddress*

IPv4 address in CIDR notation, for example, 192.168.0.223/24, to be used for deployment of the Tunnel Appliance.

TunnelGW*

Gateway IP address for the Tunnel Appliance.

TunnelHostname*

Hostname of the Tunnel Appliance.

TunnelNetwork*

Name of the vSphere network to be used for deployment of the Tunnel Appliance.
Replicator1IPAddress*

IPv4 address in CIDR notation, for example, 192.168.0.224/24, to be used for deployment of the first (1st) Replicator Appliance instance.
Replicator1Hostname*

Hostname of the first (1st) Replicator Appliance instance.

Replicator2IPAddress*

IPv4 address in CIDR notation, for example, 192.168.0.225/24 to be used for deployment of the second (2nd) Replicator Appliance instance.

Replicator2Hostname*

Hostname of the second (2nd) Replicator Appliance instance.
ReplicatorGW*

Gateway IP address for the 1st and the 2nd Replicator Appliance instances.
ReplicatorNetwork*

Name of the vSphere network to be used for deployment of the 1st and the 2nd Replicator Appliance instances.
NTPServer*

NTP server address to be used for all VMware Cloud Director Availability appliances.
DNSServer*

Comma-separated list of DNS servers to be used for all appliances, for example, 192.168.1.1,192.168.1.2.
SearchDomain*

List of search domain for all appliances, for example, domain1.local,domain2.local.
OVAFilename*

Name of the VMware Cloud Director Availability .ova file, located in a folder of the same datastore where the appliances are about to be deployed, for example, VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability-Provider-release.number.xxxxxxx-build_sha_OVF10.ova.
AcceptEULA*

Accept the VMware Cloud Director Availability End User License Agreement.

False
Retain up to

60 days
Specify name for execution* Name used to follow the execution status of the Run command.
Timeout* Operation timeout.

30 min
What to do next
  1. Configure the Public Service Endpoint of VMware Cloud Director Availability for pairing with external VMware Cloud Director Availability sites by dNAT rule associating the external IP address with the internal VMware Cloud Director Availability endpoint running on the Tunnel Service port 8048.
  2. After performing Install-VCDAAVS for the VMware Cloud Director Availability services, to validate that the setup is complete, open the management interface then verify the status of all services by clicking the System health page, where the entries show a green health state to indicate successfully configured services.
    1. To log in to the management interface of the Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance, in a Web browser, go to either of the following addresses:
      • https://VMware-Cloud-Director-Availability-Public-Service-Endpoint_Public_Address/ui/login
      • https://Cloud-Director-Replication-Management-Appliance-IP-Address/ui/login
      • https://Cloud-Director-service-Address/provider/plugins/Your-VCDA-Plugin-Id
    2. Enter the user name and password of a user with VMware Cloud Director System privileges then click Login.
  3. Once the VMware Cloud Director Availability services are up and in a healthy state, you can use the management interface to proceed with the required management tasks. For information about performing administrative tasks such as changes to the provisioned environment and routine administration and maintenance procedures, see Administration in the Cloud Director site.
  4. Pair with external VMware Cloud Director Availability sites.
    1. Optionally, the tenants can configure and pair On-Premises to Cloud Director Replication Appliance instances with VMware Cloud Director Availability in Azure VMware Solution. For the detailed initial on-premises configuration and pairing procedure, see Configure the On-Premises to Cloud Director Replication Appliance.
    2. Optionally, pair VMware Cloud Director Availability in Azure VMware Solution with private Cloud Director sites. For the detailed pairing procedure, see Pair two Cloud Director sites.
Known problems and solutions
  • The Run command Install-VCDAAVS fails with the message: Generic network error occurred at the client side.
    Problem resolution:
    VMware Cloud Director Availability Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance cannot communicate with VMware Cloud Director service Public API endpoint.
    Synopsis:
    The run execution fails with Generic network error occurred at the client side.
    Solution:

    Run the Install-VCDAAVS Run command again once you resolved the problem:

    1. Open https://portal.azure.com.

    2. Navigate to your Azure VMware Solution private cloud Operations > Run Command.

    3. Run execution status then pick the most recent Install-VCDAAVS-ExecXX.
    4. Click the Rerun button.
    5. Validate that the URL set as VCDApiEndpoint is correct and has /api at the end. For example, https://Cloud-Director-service-URL:443/api.
    6. Validate that all the properties are correct then click Run.
  • The Run command Install-VCDAAVS fails with the message: Could not find SSL/X509 certificate from....
    Problem resolution:
    VMware Cloud Director Availability Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance cannot establish a connection with VMware Cloud Director service.
    Synopsis:
    The run execution fails with Could not find SSL/X509 certificate from https://Cloud-Director-service-URL:443/api.
    Solution:

    1. Validate that the Cloud Director Replication Management Appliance has outbound network connectivity to the VMware Cloud Director service.

    2. Run the Install-VCDAAVS Run command again:

      1. Open https://portal.azure.com.

      2. Navigate to your Azure VMware Solution private cloud Operations > Run Command.

      3. Run execution status then pick the most recent Install-VCDAAVS-ExecXX.
      4. Click the Rerun button.
      5. Validate that the URL set as VCDApiEndpoint is correct. For example, https://Cloud-Director-service-URL:443/api.
      6. Validate that all the properties are correct then click Run.