VMware vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2 Release Notes

vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2 | 21 MAR 2023 Check for additions and updates to these release notes.

Release Versions

VMware vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2| 21 MAR 2023 vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2 Appliance build 21452960 vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2 Update Repository build 21452960

Updates made to this document:

Date	Description of update	Type
03/21/2023	Initial publishing.

What's New in vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2

vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2 release includes the following new features and feature support changes:

• The Node.js 14 runtime is now deprecated.

  Starting the 8.11.2 release, vRealize Orchestrator now supports the Node.js 18.14.2 runtime. The Node.js 14 runtime is now deprecated and will be removed from vRealize Orchestrator when that version reaches its End-of-life (EOL).

  It is recommended to review your current scripts and run them with Node.js 18.14.2 going forward.

• You can now configure local or internal repositories for scripting environments.

  Starting with vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2, you can now provide local repositories for scripting environments that use either Python, Node.js or PowerCLI runtimes. You can use these repositories to download dependencies. After adding custom repositories from the Action Environments page, you can select to download the dependency from the custom repositories when configuring them in the environment definition.

Deploying the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance

The vRealize Orchestrator Appliance is a VMware Photon OS-based appliance distributed as an OVA file. It is prebuilt and preconfigured with an internal PostgreSQL database, and it can be deployed with vCenter Server 6.0 or later.

The vRealize Orchestrator Appliance is a fast, easy to use, and more affordable way to integrate the VMware cloud stack, including vRealize Automation and vCenter, with your IT processes and environment.

For instructions about deploying the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance, see Download and Deploy the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance.

For information about configuring the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance server, see Configuring a Standalone vRealize Orchestrator Server.

Upgrading and Migrating vRealize Orchestrator

You can upgrade a standalone or clustered vRealize Orchestrator 8.x deployment to the latest product version by using a mounted ISO image.

For more information about upgrading the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance, see Upgrading vRealize Orchestrator.

You can migrate a standalone vRealize Orchestrator instance authenticated with vSphere or vRealize Automation to vRealize Orchestrator 8.x. Product versions of vRealize Orchestrator 7.x supported for migration include versions 7.3 to 7.6. The migration of clustered vRealize Orchestrator 7.x deployments is not supported.

For more information about migrating the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance, see Migrating vRealize Orchestrator.

Plug-ins Installed with vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2

The following plug-ins are installed by default with vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.2:

• vRealize Orchestrator vSphere vCenter Plug-In 7.0.0

• vRealize Orchestrator Mail Plug-In 8.1.0

• vRealize Orchestrator SQL Plug-In 1.2.1

• vRealize Orchestrator SSH Plug-In 7.6.0

• vRealize Orchestrator SOAP Plug-In 2.0.6

• vRealize Orchestrator HTTP-REST Plug-In 2.5.0

• vRealize Orchestrator Plug-In for Microsoft Active Directory 3.0.13

• vRealize Orchestrator AMQP Plug-In 1.0.6

• vRealize Orchestrator SNMP Plug-In 1.0.5

• vRealize Orchestrator PowerShell Plug-In 1.1.0

• vRealize Orchestrator Multi-Node Plug-In 8.11.2

• vRealize Orchestrator Dynamic Types 1.3.6

• vRealize Orchestrator vCloud Suite API (vAPI) Plug-In 7.5.2

• VMware vSphere Update Manager Plug-in 7.0.0

• VRealize Orchestrator Auto Deploy Plug-in 7.0.0

Earlier Releases of vRealize Orchestrator

Features and issues from earlier releases of vRealize Orchestrator are described in the release notes for each release. To review release notes for earlier releases of vRealize Orchestrator, click one of the following links:

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.11.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.11

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.10.2

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.10.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.10

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.9.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.9

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.8.2

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.8.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.8

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.7

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.6.2

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.6.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.6

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.5.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.5

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.4.2

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.4.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.4

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.3

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.2 Patch 1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.2

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.1 Patch 3

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.1 Patch 2

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.1 Patch 1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.0.1

• vRealize Orchestrator 8.0

• vRealize Orchestrator 7.6.0

• vRealize Orchestrator 7.5.0

• vRealize Orchestrator 7.4.0

Resolved Issues

• SecureString values included in Composite types are lost after performing a Pull operation.

  Overview: After performing a Pull operation from a remote Git repository, the value of a SecureString inside a Composite type is lost. This issue impacts vRealize Orchestrator configuration elements.

Known Issues

• The Generate Heap Dump option in the Control Center does not work.

  An error occurs when attempting to use the Generate Heap Dump option found in the vRealize Orchestrator Control Center.

  Workaround:

  1. Log in to the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance command line over SSH as root.

  2. Run the following command to collect a heap dump:

  VCO_APP_PODS=$(kubectl get pod -n prelude -l app=vco-app -o jsonpath="{.items[*].metadata.name}"); for VCO_APP in $VCO_APP_PODS; do kubectl -n prelude exec -it $VCO_APP -c vco-server-app -- bash -c "jcmd 1 GC.heap_dump /var/log/collected-logs/heapdump-$( date '+%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M' ).hprof"; done 

  The heap dump files are available in the /services-logs/prelude/vco-app/file-logs/ directory on each of the appliance nodes. Heap dumps are included in generated log bundles.

• User receives a "could not execute batch" error when trying to perform a Pull operation from an integrated Git repository.

  In certain cases, when an initial Pull operation from the Git History tab is performed on an integrated active remote Git repository, the operation fails with an error message stating Error: could not execute batch . This issue can occur after a migration from a vRealize Orchestrator 7.6 deployment or after previously having an integration with a remote Git repository which might contain duplicate content.

  Workaround:

  1. Create a package, containing all of your current local changes as seen in the Git History tab.

  2. Export the package with all available options selected.

  3. Delete the package but keep its content.

  4. Navigate to the Git History tab and click Discard All from the Local changes section. When a new window appears, confirm the request by clicking Discard.

  5. Re-import the package by navigating back to the Packages tab and clicking the Import button.

  6. Select your previously created package with all of your previous local changes.

  7. Make sure to have all package elements selected to be imported under the Package elements tab.

  8. Make sure the Import configuration attribute values, Import configuration SecureString attribute values, and Tag import mode settings are properly set.

  9. Click Import.

• Issue with displaying vCenter metamodel data in the API Explorer.

  When adding or removing a vAPI endpoint by running the Import vAPI metamodel or Remote vAPI metamodel workflows, the changes (vCenter metamodel) are not displayed in the API Explorer when using the Apple Safari browser.

  This issue is valid for the DynamicTypes plug-in and any other plug-ins that include the dynamic addition or removal of types. This issue is not applicable for users using the Google Chrome browser.

  Workaround: Restart the vRealize Orchestrator Appliance.

Previously Known Issues

This section contains previously known issues (known issues remaining from earlier releases of vRealize Orchestrator that still exist in the product).

• The Storage VSAN workflows of the vCenter Server plug-in do not support adding Solid-State Drive (SSD) disks to an ESXi host.

  The Add disks to disk group and Remove disks from disk groups workflows do not support adding SSD disks as capacity disks to ESXi hosts.

  No workaround.

• Action code for actions set as external sources does not update properly.

  The script content of actions set as external sources within workflow input forms is cached for one minute after the last form evaluation, which is performed when the input form was opened for the last time. If an action is updated and the form is opened within the one minute timeframe, the cached script is performed and the content of the updated action script is not displayed in the input form.

  Workaround: Wait for a period of one or two minutes after the last opening of the input form so the updated action script can be run.

• Problems handling non-ASCII characters in certain contexts.

  Using non-ASCII characters in input parameters results in incorrect behavior in the following situations:

  • If you run the SCP put or SCP get workflows from the SSH folder on a file with a name that contains non-ASCII characters, the workflow runs but the name of the resulting file on the destination machine is unreadable.

  • If you try to insert non-ASCII characters into variable names, the characters do not appear. This issue occurs for workflow variables and action variables.

  No workaround.

• The SSH plug-in encounters firewall connectivity issues.

  The SSH plug-in cannot connect to a Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) firewall.

  Workaround: The SSH plug-in for vRealize Orchestrator 7.1 does not support connectivity to a Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) firewall.

• If you experience issues connecting to a SOAP or a REST host, or importing a certificate, you might have to explicitly enable certain versions of SSL or TLS.

  For information about this issue, see the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) Reference Guide.

  Workaround: For information about explicitly enabling SSLv3 and TLSv1 for outgoing HTTPS connections, see How to enable TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 for outgoing HTTPS connections in vRO 6.0.x (KB 2144316).

• The SOAP plug-in cannot connect through an authenticated proxy server.

  When attempting to run the Add a SOAP host workflow, you encounter an issue with the proxy server authentication.

  Workaround: When running the workflow, use a proxy server that does not require authentication.

• The vRealize Orchestrator authentication configuration might become invalid if the authentication provider certificate changes or regenerates.

  When the SSL certificate of the vRealize Automation or vSphere instance that is configured as the authentication provider in Control Center is changed or regenerated, the vRealize Orchestrator authentication configuration becomes invalid, and the vRealize Orchestrator server cannot start.

  Workaround: Import the new authentication provider certificate:

  1. Log in to Control Center as root.

  2. Click Certificates.

  3. Click the Import on the Trusted Certificates tab.

  4. Load the SSL certificate from a URL or a file.

  5. Click Import.

• During the installation of a plug-in in the vRealize Orchestrator Control Center, an error message appears.

  When you install a plug-in from the Manage Plug-Ins page in Control Center, the following error message appears: Plug-in 'name_of_the_plug-in' (plug-in_file_name) is not compatible with the current platform version. Supported platform versions are 'names_of_the_supported_versions'. Clicking on the 'Install' button will install it anyway.

  Workaround: You can safely ignore this error and proceed with the installation of the plug-in.

• Adding values to vCenter Server data object properties of the Array type is not possible.

  When vRealize Orchestrator runs scripts, the vCenter Server plug-in converts JavaScript arrays to Java arrays of a fixed size. As a result, you cannot add new values to vCenter Server data objects that take arrays as property values. You can create an object that takes an array as a property if you instantiate that object by passing it a pre-filled array. However, after you instantiate the object, you cannot add values to the array.

  For example, the following code does not work:

  var spec = new VcVirtualMachineConfigSpec();
  spec.deviceChange = [];
  spec.deviceChange[0] = new VcVirtualDeviceConfigSpec();
  System.log(spec.deviceChange[0]);

  In the above code, vRealize Orchestrator converts the empty spec.deviceChange JavaScript array into the fixed-size Java array VirtualDeviceConfigSpec[] before it calls setDeviceChange(). When calling spec.deviceChange[0] = new VcVirtualDeviceConfigSpec(), vRealize Orchestrator calls getDeviceChange() and the array remains a fixed, empty Java array. Calling spec.deviceChange.add() results in the same behavior.

  Workaround: Declare the array as a local variable:

  var spec = new VcVirtualMachineConfigSpec();
  var deviceSpec = [];
  deviceSpec[0] = new VcVirtualDeviceConfigSpec();
  spec.deviceChange = deviceSpec;
  System.log(spec.deviceChange[0]);