7.1

Templates that are to be shared across organizations must be public. Only reserved templates are available
to vRealize Automation as a cloning source.
N When you create a blueprint by cloning from a template, that template's unique identier becomes
associated with the blueprint. When the blueprint is published to the vRealize Automation catalog and used
in the provisioning and data collection processes, the associated template is recognized. If you delete the
template in vCloud Air or vCloud Director, subsequent vRealize Automation provisioning and data
collection fails because the associated template no longer exists. Instead of deleting and recreating a
template, for example to upload an updated version, replace the template using the vCloud Air
vCloud Director template replacement process. Using vCloud Air or vCloud Director to replace the
template, rather than deleting and recreating the template, keeps the template's unique ID intact and allows
provisioning and data collection to continue functioning.
vRealize Automation requires that its published catalog be shared with all the vCloud Director
organizations. Data collection fails if the published catalog is not shared with all the vCloud Director
organizations.
The following overview illustrates the steps you need to perform before using vRA to create endpoints, and
dene reservations and blueprints. For more information about these administrative tasks, see vCloud Air
and vCloud Director product documentation.
1 In vCloud Air or vCloud Director, create a template for cloning and add it to the organization catalog.
2 In vCloud Air or vCloud Director, use the template to specify custom seings such as passwords,
domain, and scripts for the guest operating system on each machine.
You can use vRealize Automation to override some of these seings.
Customization can vary depending on the guest operating system of the resource.
3 In vCloud Air or vCloud Director, congure the catalog to be shared with everyone in the organization.
In vCloud Air or vCloud Director, congure account administrator access to applicable organizations to
allow all users and groups in the organization to have access to the catalog. Without this sharing
designation, the catalog templates are not be visible to endpoint or blueprint architects in
vRealize Automation.
4 Gather the following information so that you can include it in blueprints:
n
Name of the vCloud Air or vCloud Director template.
n
Amount of total storage specied for the template.
Preparing for Linux Kickstart Provisioning
Linux Kickstart provisioning uses a conguration le to automate a Linux installation on a newly
provisioned machine. To prepare for provisioning you must create a bootable ISO image and a Kickstart or
autoYaST conguration le.
The following is a high-level overview of the steps required to prepare for Linux Kickstart provisioning:
1 Verify that a DHCP server is available on the network. vRealize Automation cannot provision machines
by using Linux Kickstart provisioning unless DHCP is available.
2 Prepare the conguration le. In the conguration le, you must specify the locations of the
vRealize Automation server and the Linux agent installation package. See “Prepare the Linux Kickstart
Conguration Sample File,” on page 47.
3 Edit the isolinux/isolinux.cfg or loader/isolinux.cfg to specify the name and location of the
conguration le and the appropriate Linux distribution source.
4 Create the boot ISO image and save it to the location required by your virtualization platform. See the
documentation provided by your hypervisor for information about the required location.
Configuring vRealize Automation
46 VMware, Inc.