In this article I will demonstrate how to install VMware vRealize Orchestrator 8.1 step by step. This is the latest vRO version to date, released only days ago. You can read more details about the changes in vRO 8.1 in one of my previous articles: VMware vRealize Orchestrator 8.1.
First step is to download the required OVA file: O11N_VA-8.1.0.9326-15995344_OVF10.ova. Make sure DNS resolution for your future vRO appliance works, both forward and reverse (hostname and IP address). You can then proceed to deploy the appliance from your vCenter Server (minimum vCenter Server version is 6.0, although that is already an unsupported version by VMware, and I hope you are at least on version 6.5, if not on 7.0).
vRealize Orchestrator 8.1 – Template Deployment
Start the OVF template deployment from your vCenter (Actions -> Deploy OVF Template). Select “Local file”, click “Upload Files” and select the OVA file previously downloaded. Click “Next”.
Enter the name of the virtual machine that will host your vRO instance. Select a location for this virtual machine. Click “Next”.
You can now select a host, cluster, resource pool, or vApp as a destination on which you want the appliance to run. Click “Next”.
Review the deployment details and then click “Next”.
Read the license agreement, check “I accept all license agreements” and click “Next”.
In this step you can choose the datastore where you want to deploy the appliance, the disk format (thin, thick lazy zeroed, thick eager zeroed), and the storage policy you need. Click “Next”.
Select the network you want to connect to with the vRO appliance. IP allocation will always be static IPv4. Click “Next” to continue.
You can now configure the rest of the details which allow you to customize the deployment: hostname (make sure it is in FQDN format), root password, enable SSH, the network details (default gateway, domain name, domain search path, DNS, IP address, and subnet mask). A little warning here – Any mistake in this section is likely to cause a failure in your deployment; the hostname displayed in the shell console of your vRO will show “photon-machine” and your only choice will be to redeploy. Click “Next”.
Review the information and if looks good click “Finish”.
You can now follow the OVF task deployment in the tasks section of your vCenter Server. Once the deployment is completed, you can start the vRO appliance and begin the configuration.
Enjoy your vRealize Orchestrator 8.1 deployment and happy scripting!
