Caution: Articles written for technical not grammatical accuracy, If poor grammar offends you proceed with caution ;-)

In this article I’m going to walk you through performing a minimal deployment of vRA7. Please keep in mind vRA7 is not GA as of the writing in this article and the GA version could have some differences. Once it is released and you have downloaded the vRA7 appliance follow the below steps for performing a “minimal deployment”.

Before you Begin

Before you start there are a few things you will need:

A server running a supported version of Windows. (I’m running WIndows Server 2012 R2).

Configure NTP Time sync on windows server. (Instructions inline below)

A Microsoft SQL server for the IaaS database.

Configure the MS SQL server with the proper MSDTC security settings. (Instructions inline below)

Deploy the Appliance

The first thing you are going to need to do is deploy the appliance to your vSphere environment. I’m not going to walk through the OVA deployment in this article. If you need information in regards to deploying the appliance you can refer to the following article:

Refer to the section “Importing the vCAC 6.0 Virtual Appliance OVA to vCenter” in article vCloud Automation Center – vCAC 6.0 – Installing the vCAC 6.0 IaaS Server

Performing the Installation

1. Navigate to https://{vra7VAIPAdddress}:5480

Once there login as user “root” with the password you set during the appliance deployment. Once you login a new window will appear to start the guided installation. Select “Next” to begin.

2. Accept the agreement and select “Next”.

3. Select “Minimal Deployment” and select “Next”.

4. On this step you are presented with a file download. You will now need to download the agent installation and install the deployment agent on the Windows IaaS host. If you do not have a Windows IaaS host prepared you can deploy it now and simply install the agent once completed. I have deployed a Windows 2012 R2 host for this example. vRA Management Agent Setup If your server is not already setup to use NTP configure NTP time services on the server. Youc an do this using the following command from PowerSHell. w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:pool.ntp.org /syncfromflags:MANUAL

Stop-Service w32time

Start-Service w32time Launch the “vCAC-IaaSManagementAgent-Setup” file on your WIndows IaaS host and select “Next” to continue.

Accept the terms and select “Next”.

If needed change the path otherwise select “Next” to continue.

Input the GQDN of the vRA7 appliance in the format https://{vRA7VA_FQDN}:5480, then input the username for root and the password set during the vRA7 VA ovf deployment. Finally load the certificate, confirm it is correct and select “Next”.

Next specify the account username and password the service should run as. The account need to have admin privileges on the windows IaaS host and select “Next”.

Select “Install”

Once installation finished select “Finish” and then return to the vRA7 Installation wizard.



5. Once you return to the vRA7 Installation Wizard you will now see your IaaS host listed along with it’s Time Offset in seconds. If the time offset is more than 600 seconds the wizard will not let you continue until it is resolved. From what I can tell it looks like the wizard will update the Time Offset every 3 minutes. Select “Next” to continue.

6. Next select “Run” to run the pre-req checker on the IaaS host.

7. If you are like me I deployed a Windows server and did not complete any of the pre-reqs manually. In this case the prerequisite checker will come back with “SOme prerequisites are not met. If you want to review the failed prerequisites you can select “Show Details”. Select “Fix” to have the wizard complete the prerequisites for you.

8. Once the Wizard finished setting up the prerequisites the status will show “OK”. You can show the details if you like and then select “Next” to continue.

9. Next input or select Resolve Automatically the hsotname in FQDN format of the vRA7 appliance. Select “Next” to continue.

10. Next set the password for the single sign on admin account and select “Next” to continue.

11. Next we need to set the FQDN of the IaaS host as well as specific a windows domain account to use for the installation of the IaaS components. Then set an encryption passphrase for the IaaS database. Once set select “Next” to continue.

12. Now we need to specify the Microsoft SQL server to be utilized for the IaaS server., the database name and the authentication type to be used. Please also note that if you haven’t already you need to make sure that the MSDTC configuration on the SQL server is properly configured under Component Services –> Distributed Transaction Coordinator. When finished select “Next” to continue. (Note you can also use the validate button to validate the configuration at this point.)

13. Now we need to verify the DEM configuration. You can add additional DEM’s if you like, however this is not necessary for a minimal installation the defaults here should be fine.

14. Next we need to configure the agents to be installed. When the page loads there are defaults already populated for a vSphere agent. Please remember to note whatever you choose to use for the “Endpoint” as we will need this later. If you only need a vSphere agent then you don’t need to change anything. If you need to add additional agents you can select the green + sign to add additional agents. Select “Next” to continue when finished.

15. Now we can either Generate or import a certificate for the vRA7 Appliance. I’m going to generate a new certificate since I don’t have a certificate server up and running. If generating select “Generate Certificate, fill out the reqired info and select “Save Generated Certificate”. Once completed select “Next” to continue.

16. Next we need to do the same for a Web Certificate for the IaaS webserver. Select “Next” when finished.

17. And one last time for the Manager Service Certificate. You will notice that because the Manager Service and the IaaS webserver are on the same host it automagically uses the same certificate, however if we were to split them up in a distributed installation another certificate would be needed.

18. Next the wizard will validate everything we have told it. This process can take some time so select “Validate” and go refill your coffee.

Notice there are two DEM’s being validated. Both an orchestrator and manager DEM. The installation automagically accounts for the orchestrator because it knows it is required. You will also notice that I have two proxy agents and you may only have one. This is because I added a second agent to for another use.

19. Once validation is finished select “Next” to continue.

20. You now have the option to snapshot the the VM’s being used in case something goes wrong. Once you snapshots are finished select “Next” to continue.

21. Once you select “Next” above the installation will begin. Go to lunch for this one it may take up to 30 minutes or a little longer.

22. Once the installation finishes you can then input your license key. Select “Submit Key” and then select “Next” to continue.

23. Choose your customer experience settings and select “Next” when finished.

24. Congratulation, you have successfully installed vRA7.