The Solution Add-On Landing Zone is a runtime defined entity that encapsulates the location of specific resources that are required for the unattended installation or upgrade of any solution add-on.

You configure your Solution Add-On Landing Zone by selecting a VMware Cloud Director organization to provide the resources for the Solution Add-On Landing Zone, a catalog where the solution add-ons are uploaded, and one or more organization VDCs.

For each organization VDC that you select, you must specify the networks, compute policies and storage policies you want to attach to the solution add-ons. Additionally, each solution add-on can have a set of specific VMware Cloud Director configuration requirements that are defined as capabilities.

Important: To secure a successful installation of the Solution Add-On Management UI, verify that before you install or upgrade to VMware Cloud Director 10.4.1, you configured your public addresses and uploaded the necessary certificates for a secure connection to the VMware Cloud Director API. For details, see the Prerequisites section below.

Prerequisites

  • If you want to use a public endpoint to access a VMware Cloud Director environment that is newly installed or upgraded to version 10.4.1, verify that one of the following conditions is met.
    • You uploaded the necessary certificates for a secure connection to the VMware Cloud Director API endpoint before the upgrade. See Configure Public Addresses.
    • If you did not upload the API endpoint certificates before the upgrade, configure them and reinstall the solution add-on framework.
      1. Edit the public addresses and configure the VMware Cloud Director API endpoint certificate.
      2. Log in to the OS of the VMware Cloud Director cell as root.
      3. Run the following command.
        /opt/vmware/vcloud-director/bin/cell-management-tool manage-config --name vmware.solutions.add.on.bootstrap.completed --value no
      4. In 5 minutes, refresh the browser page for the Service Provider Admin Portal, click More, and check for the Solution Add-On Management button.
  • Verify that you have enough compute and memory resources in each organization VDC that you plan to use for the Solution Add-On Landing Zone.
  • Verify that the runtime lease for the vApps in each organization VDC that you use for the Solution Add-On Landing Zone is set to Unlimited. For details, see Understanding Leases.
  • Create a catalog to store the .iso files of your solution add-ons in each of the VDCs that you use for the Solution Add-On Landing Zone. When creating the catalog, toggle on the Pre-provision on specific storage policy option and from the drop-down list, select the organization VDC that you will use. For details, see Create a Catalog in the VMware Cloud Director Tenant Guide.
  • Verify that each organization VDC network that you use for the Solution Add-On Landing Zone has access to the public service provider endpoints of the VMware Cloud Director API.
  • Verify that you either configured static IP pools or enabled DHCP for each organization VDC network that you use for the Solution Add-On Landing Zone.

Procedure

  1. In the top navigation bar, click More > Solution Add-On Management.
  2. Click Configure.
  3. In the What is a Solution Add-On Landing Zone page, familiarize yourself with the provided information, and click Next.
  4. In the General Settings page, select an organization to provide resources for the Solution Add-On Landing Zone.
    Important: Once you make this selection, you cannot change it.
  5. From the drop-down menu, select a catalog to store the .iso files for your solution add-ons.
  6. From the drop-down menu, select at least one organization VDC in which to deploy the backend services for your solution add-ons, and click Next.
  7. Click the vertical ellipsis () and click Configure.
  8. Select an organization VDC network to connect to your solution add-ons for each of the VDCs that participate in the landing zone.
  9. (Optional) To add a new network, click Add Network and select an organization VDC network from the list.
  10. (Optional) Click the Compute Policies tab and select a compute policy for the solution add-ons.
  11. Click the Storage Policies tab and select at least one storage policy for the solution add-ons.
  12. Click Save.
  13. Click Next.
  14. Review your settings and click Finish.