How To Install vCloud Automation Center (vCAC) 6.0 - Part 1 - Identity Appliance

Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service (MS DTC) enabled on all SQL nodes in the system

There's already some good blog posts out there, but none that are all inclusive. vCloud Automation Center (vCAC) 6.0 does not currently offer an automated migration path from vCAC 5.x or earlier versions. An automated migration path from vCAC 5.2 and 6.0 is planned for a future release in 2014. This will be focused on a fresh clean vCAC 6 installation.

We will be going through multiple steps for a successful deployment:

Part 1: Deploy and Configure the Identity Appliance

Part 2: Deploy and Configure the vCloud Automation Center Appliance

Part 3: Installing IaaS Components

Part 4: Tenant Configuration

Part 5: Agent, Endpoint, and Group Configuration

Part 6: Create and Publish Blueprints

Part 7 - Setup vCO, Endpoints, and Advanced Services

Preparing for the installation:

vCloud Automation Center requires hosts to be identified using their fully qualified domain names (FQDN). DNS infrastructure is a necessity
Have Available Resources

Identity Appliance: 1vCPU, 2GB of RAM, 2GB of Disk
vCAC Appliance: 2vCPU, 8GB of RAM, 30GB of Disk
IaaS Server (Windows 2008 R2 SP1 or Windows 2012): 2vCPU, 8GB RAM, 30GB of Disk

Requires SQL Database connection

TCP/IP protocol enabled for MS SQL Server
Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service (MS DTC) enabled on all SQL nodes in the system
No firewalls between Database Server and the Web server or IaaS Server, or ports opened as described in Port Requirements
If using SQL Server Express, the SQL Server Browser service must be running

.NET Framework 4.5
PowerShell 2.0 or 3.0
Internet Information Services 7.5
We will be using an automation script to configure the pre-reqs for the Windows Box

Verify NTP is functional across the domain
I found it easier making sure that all hostname are entered in lowercase. this way there are DNS issues

Deploy the vCAC Identity Appliance:

1. Choose the source OVA file. Click Next

2. View the details of the OVA. Click Next

3. Scroll to the Bottom. Click Accept the EULA. Click Next.

4. Feel free to change the name of the appliance or accept the defaults. I placed mine in a vCAC6 folder

5. Select a cluster

6. Select the storage. Choose any storage profile as well.

7. Select the portgroup for networking

8. Enter in a root password, as well as a hostname. The hostname must be FQDN if you plan on using a static IP. Leave the IP address space blank if you want to use DHCP. I chose to enter static IP information. *make sure the hostname is all lowercase*

9. Select to Power On the OVA after deployment and click finish

10. Create a DNS entry for the appliance. In my case vcac-identity.kendrickcoleman.c0m

Enable NTP on the vCAC Identity Appliance:

1. Go to the management console at https://identity-hostname.domain.name:5480/. In my case https://vcac-identity.kendrickcoleman.c0m:5480 and login with username 'root' and the password that was configured during deployment.

2. Go to the Admin Tab, then go to Time Settings. Change the Time Sync mode to 'Use Time Server'.

3.Go to the System Tab, then go to Time Zone and select your time zone.

4.Verify the time is correct on your box. This can be seen on the Time Settings box under the Admin Tab. The Time was not correct on my box in this user interface. To make certain, I opened up a console session and logged in as the root user.

a. run 'date' to verify the correct day and time

b. run 'cat /etc/ntp.conf' and verify your NTP servers are entered at the bottom of the file

Configure the vCAC Identity Appliance:

1. In the management console go to the SSO Tab and type the password you want to assign to the system administrator (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Click Apply. It can take several minutes for the success message to appear. Do not interrupt the process.

2. When the green success message appears, click the Host Settings tab. Append the SSO port :7444 to the host name in the SSO Host Name text box. *make sure the hostname is all lowercase*.

3. Click on SSL. If you want to import a certificate, choose PEM. I will be creating a self-signed certificate. Choose the Generate Self-Signed Certificate dropdown.

a. Type a common name for the certificate in the Common Name text box. You can use the fully qualified domain name of the virtual appliance. Do not use the default one. use the same exact name as it appears in the Host Settings. *make sure the hostname is all lowercase* this image is incorrect.

b. Type in a company name or organization name

c. Type in your organizational unit

d. Type in your country code

e. Click on Replace Certificate