How do I deploy a solution in on-premises environments?

By using VMware Marketplace, you can select and deploy solutions in on-premises environments that are built on VMware vSphere and VMware Cloud Director (VCD) platforms. Let us say you want to use WordPress to create a blog and start using it right away. This section explains how to subscribe to a solution in VMware Marketplace and configure it for deployment in your on-premises VMware environment.

Prerequisites:

• VMware Marketplace service account.
• You must have administration and management access for your target VMware-based deployment platform.

Subscribe to a solution and obtain a subscription URL for on-premises deployment

As a VMware Marketplace consumer, you subscribe to a solution listed in the catalog and set the deployment configuration for your target VMware endpoint. In this task, you subscribe to the WordPress Virtual Appliance by Bitnami, add it to a subscribed catalog, and obtain a subscription URL for an on-premises deployment to a platform of your choice.

In VMware Marketplace, subscribed solutions for an on-premises deployment are stored in content libraries. Content libraries act as externally published catalogs and can be accessed under Subscriptions from the main menu. Subscribed contents from the VMware Marketplace content libraries can be shared by using a subscription URL, and made available in vCenter Server and VCD as subscribed libraries or catalogs.

1. Log into VMware Marketplace.
2. Search and locate the WordPress Virtual Appliance by Bitnami and click its tile to open the application page.
3. On the Summary page, click SUBSCRIBE.

   This initiates the subscription and configuration process for the selected application, and the Subscribe wizard appears.

4. In the SETTINGS tab, enter the settings for the WordPress Virtual Appliance:
   1. Select On-Prem as the target deployment platform for the WordPress Virtual Appliance.
   2. Select the version and enter a name for the content library containing the solution. If you have created content libraries for past subscriptions, the Content Library Name text box displays a pre-populated drop-down menu with the available options. You can add multiple solutions for an on-premises deployment to a single content library.
5. (Optional) You can configure the subscribed solution to automatically update to new versions. To do this, turn on the name of the toggle button, and then select the number of versions to be stored in the content library you created.

   Whenever the publisher of the subscribed solution provides a new version, the solution is automatically updated to the new one. Auto update always stores the specified number of versions for the solution, replacing the oldest one in the content library with the latest published version available.

   To skip the Auto update step, click NEXT without changing the settings.

6. Read and accept the EULA, and click FINISH.

   The resulting screen displays a Subscription in progress notification along with instructions for obtaining the subscription URL of the content library containing the subscribed solution.

7. To get the content library subscription URL, click the Check Subscriptions link displayed in the last screen of the Subscribe wizard.

   You are directed to the Subscriptions page which lists all the subscribed content for your account. The WordPress Virtual Appliance that you subscribed to appears on top of the list.

8. In the Actions column, click INSTRUCTIONS.

   A pop-up screen displays the subscription URL and provides deployment instructions.

9. Copy the subscription URL, review the instructions, and then click CLOSE.

You added the subscribed solution to a subscribed content library and obtained the subscription URL. Use this subscription URL to create a new subscribed catalog in VCD or a local subscribed library in vSphere.

More Information

• To create a subscribed catalog in VMware Cloud Director, see Subscribe to an External Catalog.
• To create a local subscribed library in vSphere, see Create a Library.

Deploy a solution from the published content library to an on-premises platform

You subscribed to the WordPress Virtual Appliance by Bitnami in VMware Marketplace and configured it for deployment to an on-premises platform. You obtained the subscription URL of the content library to which you added the subscribed solution. Finally, you enabled your on-premises cloud platform by creating a local instance of the published VMware Marketplace content library. You are now able to deploy the WordPress virtual machine instance and start using it in your on-premises environment.

To deploy a virtual machine from a subscribed content library, you must have administration and management access to the environment.

1. Log into the management console of your on-premises platform.
2. Do one of the following:
   • For vSphere-based environments: See Deploying OVF and OVA Templates in the VMware vSphere product documentation.
   • For VMware Cloud Director-based environments: See Working with vApps and Working with Virtual Machines in the VMware Cloud Director product documentation.

More Information

• To use the WordPress virtual machine you deployed in your vSphere on-premises environment, follow the same steps as described in the scenario for deploying a solution from VMware Marketplace to a VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC. For more information, see How do I deploy a solution on VMware Cloud on AWS?
• To start the virtual machine contained in the vApp you provisioned in your VCD on-premises environment, follow the steps described in the scenario for deploying a solution from VMware Marketplace to a VMware Cloud Director VDC. For more information, see How do I deploy a solution on VMware Cloud Director?