Installing vRealize Operations v8.01 / 8.1

I wanted this article to be about installing 8.1 but I don’t have that from vExpert or anywhere else yet. So 8.01 it is, and I will update as necessary for 8.1 when I have it (it is now updated for 8.1).

vRealize Operations is a monitoring and troubleshooting tool.  What really enhances it’s power is when you use Management Packs to integrate outside technology with vROps.  Examples of this would be NetApp or Pure storage.  Once vROps knows what your storage is - in detail, it can monitor deeper and report on things throughout the stack.

Prep work

• bits - found here!
• Release notes - here
• Docs - here
• FQDN and IP
• vCenter service account (admin level)

Install

We deploy from OVA.

We use the UPLOAD FILES button to browse out to our vROps OVA.

Next we select our compute resource.  So my cluster. After that we see a summary.

The summary mentions vROps v8.0.0 but that is not correct.  I really did select the 8.0.1 OVA.

Next we select to agree with the EULA. After that we select the configuration.

It is important to select accurately here as it is - I believe - hard to change. I am working in my home lab and less than 3500 VMs fits my home lab fine.

Next we select the storage. After that we select our network.

Our next screen has a lot of work on it for us to do. Don’t forget it scrolls down. You will need to know your Timezone and IP info.

On the next screen we see a partial summary screen and a Finish button.  If you like what you see hit Finish.

It will take a few minutes to deploy.

When it is complete we will need to power it up.

Basic Configuration

We connect to the FQDN and we see something like below. Under 8.1 it took a few minutes, and I had to close the browser that said loading resources and open a new browser instance and connect and then I saw the screen below.

We are going to do the New Installation as I like that option. It starts a wizard. Hit Next to continue.

We enter the admin password.

On the next screen we can use the default certificate or install one.

I am in a home lab with no need to add a cert so I just hit Next.

On this screen I just add the Cluster Master Node Name which since I have only one node is the same as the VM name.  I add in NTP servers.  If you want US NTP servers just change the CA to a US.

On the next screen you make the choice on availability.  In a home lab I do not need the HA or CA options. If I was at a customer I would normally use the HA option.

On the next screen I can add nodes but I don’t have any.  In my home lab I am just going to have the one node. Select Finish on this screen.

We now see a screen where we can actually start vROps.

Let’s start vROps using that big blue button. When it is running - which will take many minutes - it will look something like below.

We need to do more config for us to see numbers in some of those columns.

Additional Configuration

We need to connect vROps to vCenter now. And do a variety of other things I think important.  But first, we connect to our FQDN, and make sure it doesn’t have admin in the URL. It might help - if you need it - to connect to your FQDN/ui/login.action. Log in with the only account we have currently - admin.

We agree to an EULA again, and then we are prompted to do either a Product Evaluation license or a Product Key. I am going to enter a Product Key, and I will be sure to use the Validate License Key button.

The next screen is the on about Customer Experience Improvement Program.  Make sure you leave that enabled as it does a lot of good and doesn’t steal your secrets. Once you hit the Finish button you will see the following.

There are some good guided tours, but we need to do a few things first.

You are on the Home tab now.  Change to the Administration tab. We want to select the Add Account button, followed by selecting vCenter.

Now fill in the info - using your vCenter service account, and I suggest that you disable the Operational Actions until you have used vROps for a while.  Make sure to use the Test Connection button. The Define Monitoring Goals option can be left alone for a while.  The defaults are good.

Once you have the screen filled in use the Add button.

We can see the status is OK which is good.  Thanks to the Test button!

Now we are going to see, over time, information in vROps from vCenter and our virtual environment. It will take a bit.

Under the bell in the top right corner you might see this.

So collecting is happening.  To see, look on the Home tab, and the Operations Overview. Once the data is collected and analyzed we will see more things in that area.

It will start off by looking like this.

But as data accumulates it will look different.

l check the same screen the next morning and this is what I see.

I see that vROps really sees my environment and is already seeing issues. So it is doing what I need it to do!

BTW, when you log into vROps now, you can log in as you.  When you log in there is a dropdown list like below.

This means you can log in as you and start doing alerts or dashboards or whatever you need, and yet others can do the same and it will not necessarily impact both of you.

Updates

I used this article with the install of vROps 8.1 and made some small changes. It worked out good.

Summary

You have vROps working now.  Was not as easy as it should have been but it was not too bad.  We are going to see in my next article alert destinations and alerts enabled. If you have questions or comments don’t hesitate to let me know.

Michael

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