VMware vRealize Automation 8.8.1: New Features and Improvements

VMware has recently released vRealize Automation 8.8.1, bringing new features and improvements to the platform. This release includes several updates that enhance the management of remote sites, improve storage limits, and provide better RBAC permissions. Additionally, the vRealize Orchestrator Amazon Web Services (AWS) plug-in has been updated to use the latest AWS Java SDK.

Ability to Enable/Disable Log Analytics for Azure VMs

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One of the new features in vRealize Automation 8.8.1 is the ability to enable or disable Log Analytics for Azure VMs as a day-2 operation. This allows you to capture VM log data for further analysis by Azure Monitor and Query solutions. To enable this feature, you will need to configure proper firewall rules and networking for a single communication channel only.

vRealize Automation Extensibility (vREx) Proxy

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Similarly to 7.x releases of vRealize Automation, vRealize Automation 8.8.1 and later now support the management of remote vCenter Server Cloud accounts using vRealize Automation Extensibility (vREx) Proxy. This feature allows you to deploy a small vRealize Automation Extensibility (vREx) Proxy in a remote site, which helps a single central vRealize Automation instance to connect to the remote site and manage its resources.

Storage Limits for Independent Disks and First Class Disks (FCD)

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Another update in vRealize Automation 8.8.1 is the application of storage limits for independent disks and FCDs. Previously, vRealize Automation only supported storage limits for day 0 attached disks and disks added via day 2 operation. Independent disk & FCDs were not counted towards the storage limit set by the user. If the disk size exceeds the storage limit set, the deployment will fail.

Manage Resource RBAC Permissions with Quick Create VM

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The deployment manage permission under Role Based Access Control (RBAC) now includes a new feature that allows you to create a VM directly using a single button and wizard independent of a VMware Cloud Template. With this feature, you can create a VM without having to first create a cloud template. This simplifies the process of creating a VM and reduces the number of steps required.

vRealize Orchestrator Amazon Web Services (AWS) Plug-in Update

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The vRealize Orchestrator AWS plug-in has been updated to use the latest AWS Java SDK version 1.12.209. This update includes new features such as support for the AWS API update and fix for the scripting generator and scripting wrappers for AWS methods having a return type or argument(s) of the Collection type.

Support for vRealize Automation Version 8.8.1, vRealize Automation Salt Stack Config Version 8.8.1, and vRealize Orchestrator Version 8.8.1

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You can now deploy, upgrade, and manage vRealize Automation version 8.8.1, vRealize Automation Salt Stack Config version 8.8.1, and vRealize Orchestrator version 8.8.1 using vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager.

vRealize Log Insight 8.4.1 Upgrade Support

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You can now upgrade vRealize Log Insight to version 8.4.1 using vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager.

No Changes Were Made to the VMware vRealize Automation APIs in Version 8.8.1

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There were no changes made to the VMware vRealize Automation APIs in version 8.8.1.

Imported Resource Elements Are Reverted to an Earlier State After a Certain Period of Time

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After importing a resource element from a file and then updating the resource element without making a commit in Git, the element state is reverted to an earlier state after a certain period of time. For example, you might import a REST host resource element and then run the Update a REST host workflow (which does not update the resource element in Git). After a certain period of time, the changes made to the REST host are lost.

The RESTOperation ID Does Not Initialize Properly If the REST Host Instance Is Created by Using a Swagger File

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If the REST host instance is created by using a Swagger file, the RESToperation ID does not initialize properly.

Conclusion

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VMware vRealize Automation 8.8.1 includes several new features and improvements that enhance the management of remote sites, improve storage limits, and provide better RBAC permissions. Additionally, the vRealize Orchestrator AWS plug-in has been updated to use the latest AWS Java SDK. These updates simplify the process of managing remote sites and improve the overall performance of the platform.