Caution: Articles written for technical not grammatical accuracy, If poor grammar offends you proceed with caution ;-)
The vCAC 6.0 Virtual appliance(VA) is your gateway into vCAC 6.0. The vCAC VA packs a punch with lots of new capabilities including:
- Multi-Tenancy
- New Self-Service Portal
- Catalog Brand-able per tenant
- Ultra flexible advanced approvals
- Custom service offerings (XaaS)
- Custom Day 2 operations
- Built-In vCO Server
- Lots more….
The vCAC 6.0 VA is the second of three required components for vCAC 6.0. The First component the vCAC 6.0 Identity Appliance handles SSO authentication for the architecture, the vCAC VA handles the web interface for administration, self-service, and API. The vCAC IaaS Server which we will be installing next is what was formerly known as vCAC.
The appliance is delivered as an ova or ovf whichever you prefer. I will be walking through the installation using the ova version. In this tutorial we will do the following:
- Import the vCAC 6.0 Virtual Appliance OVA to vCenter
- Configure the vCAC 6.0 Virtual Appliance for use
Importing the vCAC 6.0 Virtual Appliance OVA to vCenter
*Note: I’m using the VI Client in my example however the import can also be performed using the Web Client as well.
1. In the VI CLient go to “File “Deploy OVF Template””
2. Use the “Browse Button” and locate the OVA file on your computer and click “Next”
3.Select “Next”
4. Click “Accept” and then click “Next“.
5. Name the VM, select the folder you would like to place it in and select “Next“.
6. Choose a “Cluster/Host“, and then click “Next“.
7. Choose a “Resource Pool“, and then click “Next“.
8. Choose a “Datastore“, and then click “Next“.
9. Click Next.
10. Choose a “Network“, and then click “Next“.
11. Fill in all the information for the appliance. Use the FQDN for the hostname. CLick Next.
12. Click “Finish”.
Configuring the vCAC 6 Virtual Appliance
13. Navigate to https://FQDN:5480 in your web browser and login as “root” with the “password” you set during deployment.
14. Once you are logged in select “Time Zone” and set the “System Time Zone” to your location and click “Save Settings”
15. Select the “Network” tab and verify that your networking configuration is correct.
16. Select the “vCAC Settings” tab. You should now be on the “Host Settings” menu. Click “Resolve Host Name” Once this completes the FQDN hostname should appear in the “CAFE Host Name” field. If the proper hostname does not appear please verify your DNS entries and try again. Once complete click “Save Settings“.
17. Next we need to generate or import a certificate. In this example we will be generating a certificate. In the “Common Name” filed it’s important that the name is the FQDN of the vCAC 6 Virtual Server that we are configuring. You can input the rest of the fields with what’s relevant for your environment and then click “Generate Certificate”
18. Next we need to connect to the “vCAC 6 Identity Appliance“. On th “SSO” menu under “SSO Host and Port” input the FQDN:7444 for your vCAC 6.0 Identity Appliance. In the “SSO Defualt Tenant” field input the name of the domain you used if you changed the default. For the “SSO Admin User” you will utilize “administrator@”{Default Tenant}” for the default it would be “administrator@vsphere.local“. Finally input the “password” you set in the vCAC 6 Identity appliance in the “SSO Admin Password” field and click “Save”
19. Next click “Yes” to proceed on the “Warning! Untrusted host!” popup.
20. Once completed you should see “SSO configuration is updated successfully“.
21. Next click on the “Licensing” menu, then past your license key in “New License Key” and click “Submit Key“.
22. Once completed you will see “License key is updated successfully”. Once that is completed you are finished configuring the vCAC 6 Virtual Appliance. Next we will install the vCAC IaaS server.
Nice write up Sid. When you have a minute I’d like to pick your brain regarding the appliance.