vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager is a relatively new tool in VMware’s portfolio. You can use it to install, configure and upgrade vRealize environments consisting in vRealize Automation, vRealize Business for Cloud, vRealize Log Insight and vRealize Operations. In this article I will show how to install vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 1.1.
You will need access to both a vCenter Server and an ESXi host 6.0 or 6.5. For running the virtual machine you will have to allocate minimum 2 vCPU and 16GB of RAM. The smallest used disk is around 3GB, and it can grow up to 135GB.
You can download vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 1.1 from My.VMware portal (you need to use your credentials to authenticate). You will end up with a 1.7GB OVA file (VMware-vLCM-Appliance-1.1.0.7-7359844_OVF10.ova), released on 12 December 2017.
Install vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 1.1
Using vSphere Web Client, run “Deploy OVF Template” action. The below wizard starts. Click on radio box next to “Local file”. Click on “Browse…” button and select the OVA file downloaded at previous step. Click “Next”.
Choose a name for the virtual machine object (vlcm in my case). Select the datacenter or the folder where you want the VM placed (LabDC in my case). Click “Next”.
You need to select now where you want to deploy the VM (vapp, resource pool, host or cluster). Click “Next”.
The wizard will load now the OVA details. Make sure you use the right image. You can also check the size on disk for thin or thick deployments. Click “Next”.
Read the license agreement. Click “Accept” and then click “Next”.
You can now select storage. Pick a disk format (thin provision in my case) and a VM storage policy (if applicable). Then select the datastore where you want the VM to live (datastore0 for me). Click “Next”.
In the next screen you can select the port group for the virtual machine (VM Network for me). Click “Next”.
Customize template step allows you to enter few more information. You will start with the fully qualified domain name of the VM (vlcm.lab.local in my case). You can opt in to take part in VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program. Scroll down for next screen.
You can customize now the SSL certificate (this is an optional step). Scroll down.
Now you can customize the networking data (default gateway, domain name, DNS servers, search path, IP address and subnet mask). When complete, click “Next”.
This is the last chance to check if you are satisfied with your choices. If it looks good, click “Finish” to start VM deployment.
Check the “Deploy OVF Template” task in “Recent Tasks” panel. When the task is completed, power on the VM and wait for around 5 minutes for the services to start.
Open a browser and visit the appliance URL: https://IP/vrlcm (https://192.168.0.226/vrlcm in my case). Ignore any certificate warning. For Username enter admin@localhost. For password enter the default “vmware”. Click “LOG IN”.
You will be now forced to pick up a different password. Enter the same password twice and click “UPDATE PASSWORD”.
The vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager dashboard loads now.
This completes my demonstration on how to install vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 1.1. Into few following articles, I will show you how to configure the Lifecycle Manager and how to use it to deploy and manage vRealize Suite.
