The vRealize Automation Jenkins plugin enables Jenkins to provision vRealize Automation 7 Blueprints.

• Jenkins 1.58+
• Java 8 to compile plugin or Java 7 if just running in Jenkins
• vRealize Automation 7
• Maven if compiling the plugin

For Deployments, the vRealize Automation plugin can be configured as a build environment, build step and a post build action.

1. Build Environment : Check the "Create vRealize Automation Deployment". Note that jenkins will automatically destroy any environments provisioned as part of the build once the build completes. Environment details will be written to Jenkins as environment variables.

2. Build step : On the Job configuration page, select Add build step and choose “vRealize Automation Deployment”. Environment details will be written to Jenkins as environment variables.

3. Post-Build Action : Select "Add Post Build" and choose "vRealize Automation Deployment".

Configure : Configure the plugin as shown

• vRealize Automation URL - The URL for vRealize Automation.
• Tenant - vRealize Automation tenant to be used
• User Name - Username for given tenant. User must be entittled to provision the blueprint in vRealize Automation
• Password - Password for user
• Blueprint - The name of the blueprint to be provisioned.
• Execute and Wait - If checked the Jenkins job will wait for the blueprint to be provisioned
• Request using Blueprint Template - Disabled by default. Checking this box will use the blueprint template. I've disabled this as requesting via Blueprint Template's provide inconsistent results if you have multiple network profiles defined in your reservation. Also note that using the blueprint template means that the JSON required for the deployment configuration options will differ.
• Add Deployment Configuration - Deployment configuration parameters can be specified to adjust settings such as CPU. Parameters are specified as JSON. Thy format of the JSON string will differ if you have the "Request using Blueprint Template" enabled.

The format of your configuration JSON will depend on your selection of the "Request using Blueprint Template" option. If you stay with the default, option is unchecked, you will define the JSON like the string below. Note: Due to format constraints, I had to place white space to allow for bold. Please exclude the white space.

{"key":"provider- CommerceWebApp_1 ", "value":{"type":"complex", "values":{" entries " :[ {"key":" artifactURL ", "value":{"type":"string", "value":" http://artifactserver/commerceApp.zip "}} ] } } }

Note the bold text will change based on your blueprint. The provider name will be the name of your component in the blueprint. The entries array in the JSON will be a key/value mapping. In this case my key is artifactURL, which is also the property in my blueprint that I want to set a value. The value is set to my artifact repository URL. Since this is a JSON array, you can specify multiple key/value pairs that belong to same provider.

 for example: "entries": [  { "key":"var1", "value"="value1" } , { "key":"var2", "value"="value2" } ]

If you choose "Request using Blueprint Template" then your JSON format must match the blueprint templates contents. The blueprint template will be logged to the console window as shown below. You may also get the template using the cloudclient. Simply search for the section that contains the parameter you wish to change and copy that JSON to your deployment configuration paramemters. I'd recommend using a friendly JSON editor to look at the contents of the blueprint template so that you can select the parameters you wish to modify.

For example: A simple CPU change in a blueprint template where CentOS7 is the name of the VM in the blueprint.

{"data":{" CentOS7 ":{"data":"cpu":2}}}}

A deployment can be destroyed using the Post-build Action, "Destroy vRealize Automation Deployment". Note that environment variables can be used to specify the deployment name to be deleted.

Environment details are written back to Jenkins as environment variables. The following convention is used to name the variables.

For deployments from Build Environment:

VRADEP_BE_NUMBER_NAME : Provides the deployment name where NUMBER is an incrementing number starting from 1. The number coresponds to the order of deployments specified under the build environment section.

example: VRADEP_BE_1_NAME=CentOS_7-18373323

VRADEP_BE_NUMBER_TENANT : Provides the tenant name of the deployment. where is an incrementing number starting from 1. The number coresponds to the order of deployments specified under the build environment section.

example: VRADEP_BE_1_TENANT=vsphere.local

For deployments from a Build Step:

The naming for a deployment from a build step is the same as build environment. However, the BE is replaced with BS. Note that the incrementing number has local scope. Meaning a deployment in build environment will not increment the number in build step.

example: VRADEP_BS_1_NAME=CentOS_7-18373323

example: VRADEP_BS_1_TENANT=vsphere.local

The naming for a deployment from a Post-Build action is the same as build environment. However, the BE is replaced with PB. Note that the incrementing number has local scope.

example: VRADEP_PB_1_NAME=CentOS_7-18373323

example: VRADEP_PB_1_TENANT=vsphere.local

Details for each machine and NSX load balancer included in a deployment are also written as environment variables. The variables can be resolved using the deployment name and tenant from above.

For example:

VRADEP_PB_1_COMPONENT#_NAME VRADEP_BS_1_COMPONENT1_NAME=CENTOS7

VRADEP_PB_1_COMPONENT_MACHINE#_NAME

VRADEP_BS_1_COMPONENT1_MACHINE1_NAME=CLOUDADMINS0167

VRADEP_PB_1_COMPONENT_MACHINE#_NETWORK#_NAME

VRADEP_BS_1_COMPONENT1_MACHINE1_NETWORK1_NAME=DPORTGROUP

VRADEP_PB_1_COMPONENT_MACHINE#_NETWORK#_IP#

VRADEP_BS_1_COMPONENT1_MACHINE1_NETWORK1_IP1=10.25.27.104

An example of an environment variable for an NSX load balancer:

VRADEP_BS_#_LB#_NAME

VRADEP_BS_1_LB1_NAME=WP-LOADBALANCER-055D64D8-7162-4A96-B8B5-7936ED41B149

VRADEP_BS_#_LB#_NAME

VRADEP_BS_1_LB1_SERVICES=Virtual IP: 192.168.110.211, Services: HTTP

The plugin enables infrastructure as code for vRealize Automation blueprints that have been exported as YAML.
The current version of the plugin as of 1.3 only support packaged blueprints which include the necessary composite-blueprint and software components. The following screenshot is an example file structure for a blueprint package.

To configure the Jenkins plugin for blueprints, apply the credentials to authenticate to vRA. Apply the following settings.

1. Blueprint Path is the relative path to the directory containing your blueprint.

2. The Publish Blueprint determines if the blueprint will be published in vRA or left as a draft. To deploy a blueprint the blueprint must be published.

3. Assign to Service Category publishes the blueprint to a service category in vRA. Note that the Service Category must already exist in vRA. If this is an update to a blueprint that already belongs to a service category, changing this field will assign the blueprint to the service category specified in this field.

To compile you must have maven installed.

To compile and run jenkins locally for testing

* mvn hpi:run

To compile only the plugin

* mvn hpi:hpi

Once you have the .hpi file, use the plugin management console (http://example.com:8080/pluginManager/advanced) to upload the hpi file. You must restart Jenkins after the install.