Proven Tips and Tricks for Mastering vRealize Automation

VMware vRealize Automation is a powerful cloud automation and orchestration platform that empowers organizations to streamline their IT operations and accelerate service delivery. While vRealize Automation offers many features and capabilities, several tips and tricks can help you maximize its potential. This blog will explore some of the best-known tips and tricks to help you master vRealize Automation.

1. Leverage Blueprints for Standardization

Blueprints are the heart of vRealize Automation. They allow you to define standardized templates for virtual machines, applications, and other resources. To get the most out of vRealize Automation, create comprehensive blueprints that encapsulate your organization’s standards. Use property definitions to capture user-specific inputs and ensure users can request standardized resources quickly.

2. Harness the Power of Custom Properties

Custom properties are a game-changer in vRealize Automation. They enable you to capture additional resource information, such as IP addresses, hostnames, and application-specific configurations. Using custom properties effectively, you can automate post-deployment tasks, integrate with external systems, and customize resources for different users or purposes.

3. Design an Effective Naming Convention

A well-thought-out naming convention is essential for maintaining order in your vRealize Automation environment. It helps identify resources, allocate costs, and ensure consistency. Establish a naming convention that includes information like environment (dev, test, prod), purpose, owner, and creation date. Automate resource naming whenever possible to reduce human errors.

4. Create Actionable Blueprints with Resource Actions

Resource actions allow users to interact with deployed resources effectively. You can create actions like “Start,” “Stop,” “Scale Up,” or “Delete” for virtual machines. By providing users with these actions, you empower them to manage their resources without requiring manual intervention from IT administrators.

5. Implement Governance and Approval Policies

Governance and approval policies are crucial for controlling your vRealize Automation environment. Set up approval workflows to ensure resource requests go through the appropriate channels. Implement policies that enforce compliance with budgetary constraints, regulatory requirements, or security standards.

6. Embrace vRealize Orchestrator (vRO)

vRealize Orchestrator is a powerful companion to it. Use vRO to build custom workflows that automate complex tasks and integrate with external systems. Whether provisioning resources, executing post-deployment configurations, or managing resource lifecycle, vRO can be a game-changer for your automation initiatives.

7. Monitor and Optimize Your Environment

Regularly monitor the performance of your vRealize Automation environment. Use metrics and logs to identify bottlenecks, resource constraints, or issues with blueprints and workflows. Optimization can lead to cost savings, improved resource allocation, and better efficiency.

8. Leverage the vRealize Automation Content Library

The Content Library in vRealize Automation is a repository for storing content, such as blueprints, scripts, and software components. Create a well-organized content library to reuse and share content across your organization. This trick promotes consistency and saves time when creating new blueprints.

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