7.0

Blueprints can consume other blueprints as components. A blueprint that contains one or more nested
blueprints is referred to as an outer blueprint. Stated another way, when you add a blueprint as a
component to the design canvas while creating or editing another blueprint, the blueprint component is
referred to as a nested blueprint and the container blueprint to which it is added is referred to as the outer
blueprint.
The settings defined in the outer blueprint take precedence over settings in the nested blueprint. Saved
changes to the nested blueprint are reflected in the outer blueprint, except for specified settings in the
outer blueprint that take precedence over settings in the nested blueprint.
Provisioned deployments reflect the current state of the blueprint at the time of provisioning. At the time of
provisioning, the resulting deployment reads current values from the blueprint, including from its nested
blueprints. Once a deployment is created, it is detached from any changes that are subsequently made to
the blueprint from which it was provisioned.
Using nested blueprints presents considerations that are not always obvious. It is important to understand
the following nested blueprint rules and considerations to make the best use of your machine provisioning
capabilities:
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All networking and security components in outer blueprints can be associated with machines that are
defined in nested blueprints.
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When app isolation is applied in the outer blueprint, it overrides app isolation settings specified in
nested blueprints.
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Transport zone settings that are defined in the outer blueprint override transport zone settings that are
specified in nested blueprints.
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As a best practice to minimize blueprint complexity, limit blueprints to three levels deep, with the top-
level blueprint serving as one of the three levels.
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For a nested blueprint that contains an on-demand NAT network component, the IP ranges specified
in that on-demand NAT network component are not editable in the outer blueprint.
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The outer blueprint cannot contain an inner blueprint that contains on-demand network settings or on-
demand load balancer settings. Using an inner blueprint that contains an NSX on-demand network
component or NSX load balancer component is not supported.
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For a nested blueprint that contains NSX network or security components, you cannot change the
network profile or security policy information specified in the nested blueprint. You can, however,
reuse those settings for other vSphere machine components that you add to the outer blueprint.
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If a user is entitled to the top-most blueprint, that user is entitled to all aspects of the blueprint,
including nested blueprints.
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You can apply an approval policy to a blueprint. When approved, the blueprint catalog item and all its
components, including nested blueprints, are provisioned. You can also apply different approval
policies to different components. All the approval policies must be approved before the requested
blueprint is provisioned.
Configuring vRealize Automation
VMware, Inc. 378