Azure Arc-Enabled VMware vSphere: Unified Governance and Management for Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure
In November 2021, Microsoft announced the private preview of Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere, a feature that extends Azure governance and management capabilities to non-Azure environments, specifically to VMware vSphere infrastructures. As of March 31st, 2022, the feature is now available in public preview. This new integration provides a unified governance and management solution for lifecycle and guest OS operations of VMware VMs through Azure Arc.
Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere relies on a Resource Bridge appliance deployed in the target environment (or in a VMware environment with network access to the target one). This bridge acts as an access-point for Azure Arc to get and manage data from vCenter APIs. Currently, the Resource Bridge requires an outbound connectivity to the Internet (specifically to Azure APIs over HTTPS(443)) and can only be deployed on a VMware environment.
Once the appliance is fully deployed and reports to the Azure Arc APIs, you can browse the inventory and enable some VMware components to be accessible as Azure objects. Azure-enabled resources from the VMware environment will be attached to your Azure subscription and can be managed through the Azure portal or using Azure CLI/PowerShell.
The main goal of Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere is to extend Azure governance and management capabilities to a VMware vSphere infrastructure, providing a consistent management experience across Azure and VMware vSphere infrastructure. This integration provides a unified view of your hybrid cloud infrastructure, allowing you to manage your VMware resources alongside your Azure resources.
To use Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere, you need to register the following Azure resources providers to your subscription:
* Microsoft.Azure.ResourceManager
* Microsoft.Azure.Compute
* Microsoft.Azure.Networking
* Microsoft.Azure.Storage
Using Azure CLI or PowerShell, you can assign the required resources to your Resource Bridge appliance as follows:
* Azure.ResourceManager
* Azure.Compute
* Azure.Networking
* Azure.Storage
From the Azure portal, select the Azure Arc product, and then select the “+” icon to create a new resource. Choose the “Resource Bridge” option and provide the required information, including the location of your vCenter deployment.
After completing these steps, you can download a PowerShell-based (Windows) or Azure CLI-based (Linux) version of a script that will deploy and configure the Resource Bridge appliance. The script will run for about 15 minutes to download, deploy, and configure the appliance. When fully deployed, the verification step of the UI wizard will display a green check to validate that both Azure API and the appliance are communicating together.
In upcoming posts, we will cover the functional capabilities of having VMware resources managed through Azure, from UI or with automation tools. We will explore how to manage your VMware resources alongside your Azure resources, and how to use Azure Arc to extend Azure governance and management capabilities to your hybrid cloud infrastructure.
Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere is a powerful feature that provides a unified governance and management solution for hybrid cloud infrastructure. With this integration, you can manage your VMware resources alongside your Azure resources, providing a consistent management experience across your entire hybrid cloud infrastructure.