A deployment configuration file is an input to the migration coordinator tool. The migration coordinator reads the .json configuration file, validates it against a pre-defined JSON schema, and migrates the vRealize Automation resource configurations from the existing NSX Data Center for vSphere environment to a new NSX-T Data Center environment.

The deployment configuration file contains the following configuration information:
  • List of resources that vRealize Automation has created.
  • List of resources that vRealize Automation references from the existing NSX-v environment.
  • List of network interfaces of the workload VMs that vRealize Automation has created.
  • Desired mapping of the vRealize Automation resources to NSX-T objects.
Mapping example: Consider that your topology has a vRealize Automation created Logical Switch that connects to an existing Distributed Logical Router in NSX-v. The mapping information in the deployment configuration file tells the migration coordinator to do the following:
  • Create a relevant tier-1 gateway in NSX-T that maps to the Network Profile deployed in vRealize Automation.
  • Attach an NSX-T overlay segment to the downlink of this tier-1 gateway.

The deployment configuration file is generated from the vRealize Automation environment, and it provides configuration information about all the vRealize Automation created on-demand resources that are deployed over several days of network operations. This configuration file must be valid and conform to a pre-defined JSON schema.

Typically, the cloud administrator generates the deployment configuration file and provides it to the network administrator, who runs the migration coordinator tool in the NSX-T environment. In some organizations, a single administrator might perform both roles.

Remember, each vRealize Automation deployment can create multiple on-demand networks, and each network can have multiple network interfaces. The networks inside a deployment can consume resources that are either created by vRealize Automation or that are existing in NSX-v.

For example, let us assume that over several days of network operations, you have created multiple deployments in vRealize Automation to deploy the following resources in your NSX-v topology:
  • Deployment 1: For creating two on-demand private networks and one on-demand routed network.
  • Deployment 2: For creating on-demand security groups.
  • Deployment 3: For creating on-demand routed networks with no services.

When you are ready to migrate NSX-v with vRealize Automation to NSX-T Data Center, a single deployment configuration file is generated from vRealize Automation, and uploaded as an input file to the migration coordinator.