This is the second part of this series. In this article we will complete the configuration of the InfoBlox, then setup IPAM in vRealize Automation Cloud (vRAC). And finally deploy a two machine blueprint to test the Allocation and Deallocation Lambda functions.

The first thing is to add some attributes required by vRAC within InfoBlox. Click on Administration -> Extensible Attributes. Add the two attributes shown below.

• VMware NIC index (lower case I), type Integer
• VMware resource ID, type String

Click on the Add Button, type in the new Attribute name and Type, then click Save & Close. Then repeat for the other Attribute.

Next we need to set up an IPAM range. Here I’m going to create a small range in 172.31.32.0/16. Click on Data Management -> IPAM. Select List, then check the box next to 172.31.32.0/16.

Click Add -> Range -> IPv4.

Add the range following these steps.

• Step 1, Next
• Step 2, Enter the range start/end and Range name. Then Next.

• Step 3, Next
• Step 4, Next
• Step 5, Save & Close

Download the InfoBlox Plugin from the VMware Exchange.

Now to add the endpoint in vRAC. Click on Infrastructure -> ADD INTEGRATION. Then click on IPAM.

Click on MANAGE IPAM PROVIDERS.

Then IMPORT PROVIDER PACKAGE, then select the package you downloaded earlier.

The import will take a few minutes. Next select Infoblox from the Provider drop-down box.

Give the Integration a name, select your Running Environment (Cloud Account), Username, Password, and Hostname (IP or hostname. Example 10.10.10.10 or myipam.corp.local. Do not append HTTPS). Then check the box next to Infoblox.IPAM.DisableCertificateCheck. Then the pencil to edit.

Change Value to True to disable the certificate check.

Next Validate the connection and Save it.

Next assign the IPAM range to a vRAC network.

Goto Infrastructure -> Networks, then select the network hosting 172.31.32.0/16. Click the box to the left, then MANAGE IP RANGES.

Select External -> Your Provider -> and your Address space (default). Then check the network hosting your IPAM Range.

Add the network to an existing or new Network Profile.

Now it’s time to test the integration. Here I have a blueprint with two machines. The first will get the next available IP out of the Range (172.31.32.10). The second will be assigned the user requested IP of 172.31.32.20.

formatVersion: 1
inputs: {}
resources:
  Cloud_Network_1:
    type: Cloud.Network
    properties:
      networkType: existing
      name: ipam
      constraints:
        - tag: 'ipam:infoblox_aws'
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      image: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
      flavor: generic.tiny
      remoteAccess:
        authentication: keyPairName
        keyPair: id_rsa
      Infoblox.IPAM.Network.dnsSuffix: corp.local
      # Infoblox.IPAM.createHostRecord: false
      # Infoblox.IPAM.createAddressRecord: false
      # Infoblox.IPAM.Network.enableDns: false
      # Infoblox.IPAM.Network.dnsView: somethingElse
      networks:
        - network: '${resource.Cloud_Network_1.id}'
          assignment: static
          # will assign first available if address is not set
          # address: 172.31.15.11
          assignPublicIpAddress: false
  Cloud_Machine_2:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      image: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
      flavor: generic.tiny
      remoteAccess:
        authentication: keyPairName
        keyPair: id_rsa
      Infoblox.IPAM.Network.dnsSuffix: corp.local
      # Infoblox.IPAM.createHostRecord: false
      # Infoblox.IPAM.createAddressRecord: false
      # Infoblox.IPAM.Network.enableDns: false
      # Infoblox.IPAM.Network.dnsView: somethingElse
      networks:
        - network: '${resource.Cloud_Network_1.id}'
          assignment: static
          # will assign first available if address is not set
          address: 172.31.32.20
          assignPublicIpAddress: false

Deploy the blueprint, then check to see if the Lambda function run. Click on Extensibility -> Action Runs, then change the run type to INTEGRATION RUNS. Then click on the first Infoblox_AllocateIP Action. The assigned IP will be in the Outputs section near the end of the JSON.

{
  "ipAllocations": [
    {
      "domain": "corp.local",
      "ipRangeId": "range/ZG5zLmRoY3BfcmFuZ2UkMTcyLjMxLjMyLjEwLzE3Mi4zMS4zMi4yMC8vLzAv:172.31.32.10/172.31.32.20/default",
      "ipVersion": "IPv4",
      "properties": {
        "Infoblox.IPAM.RangeId": "range/ZG5zLmRoY3BfcmFuZ2UkMTcyLjMxLjMyLjEwLzE3Mi4zMS4zMi4yMC8vLzAv:172.31.32.10/172.31.32.20/default",
        "Infoblox.IPAM.Network.dnsView": "default"
      },
      "ipAddresses": [
        "172.31.32.20"
      ],
      "ipAllocationId": "/resources/network-interfaces/ebef4233-6e94-411d-9f9f-f26096acaa58"
    }
  ]

Looks good so far. Now let’s check InfoBlox. Login, then go to Data Management -> IPAM.

Then check to see the hosts where added to corp.local. Click on Data Management -> DNS -> corp.local. You should see the two new entries.

Now destroy the deployment to make sure the IPAM and DNS entries are cleaned up.

The DNS entries where also removed.

So there you have it, vRAC, AWS and InfoBlox integration.

The next two articles will discuss how to setup InfoBlox for AWS as an IPAM provider to vRealize Automation Cloud (vRAC). InfoBlox will be hosted in AWS using a community AMI. I’ll be using the latest version (1.0) of the VMware InfoBlox vRA 8.x plugin available on the VMware Solution Exchange, and InfoBlox version 8.5.0 (Any version that supports WAPI v2.7 should work).

Two AWS accounts are needed, one for InfoBlox vDiscovery and the other for vRAC AWS Cloud Account.

First the InfoBlox vDiscovery user, create a role following the directions on page 35 of the vNIOS for AWS document. Then create a new user, and download the credentials.

Secondly, assuming you already have your AWS Cloud Account setup, add the following roles and permissions to your AWS vRAC user.

• IAMReadOnlyAccess / AWS Managed Policy – Needed when adding the InfoBlox Integration
• AWSLambdaBasicExecutionRole / AWS Managed Policy – Used by the plugin to run Lambda functions
• IAM:PassRole / Inline policy – Needed when adding the InfoBlox Integration

Here is a screen shot of my working AWS Policy and Permissions for the vrac user account.

Now on to deploying the InfoBlox for AWS AMI. This deployment requires two subnets in the same availability zone. Detailed installation directions start on page 22 of the NVIOS for AWS document. Make sure to select one of the DDI BYOL AMI’s. I’m using ami-044c7a717e19bb001 for this blog. Here is a screen shot of the search of the community InfoBlox AMI’s.

Some notes on the AMI deployment. 1., Make sure the additional (new) interface is on a different subnet. The management interface (eth1) will need internet access. 2., Assign a Security Group which allows SSH from your local machine, and HTTPS from anywhere.

Take a 10 or 15 minute break as the instance boots and the Status Checks complete. You may use this time to assign an EIP to the ENI assigned to eth1. You can get the Interface ID by clicking on the instance eth1 interface under Instance Description and copying the Interface ID value (at the top of the popup).

Next assign a new or existing EIP to the Network Interface.

Take a 10 or 15 minute break as the instance boots and the Status Checks complete. SSH to the instance as admin with the default password of infoblox. Once logged in you will need to add some temporary licenses (Or permanent if you have them). Add the license options shown in this screen shot. When adding #4, select #2, IB-V825. This will force a reboot.

Give the appliance about 5 minutes before browsing to https://<EIP Address>. Login as admin with the default password of infoblox.

The first login will eventually send you the Grid Setup Wizard. My environment was setup using these settings.

1. Step 1, Configure as a Grid Master
2. Step 2, Changed the Shared Secret
3. Step 3, No changes
4. Step 4, Changed the password to something more complex than ‘infoblox’
5. Step 5, No changes
6. Step 6, Click Finish

Next enable the DNS Resolver in Grid Properties (Click on Grid, click Grid Properties, then add the DNS server under DNS Resolver.

Add a new Authoritative forward-mapping zone under Data Management -> DNS. I’m using corp.local for this article.

Then start the DNS server under Grid -> Grid Manager. Then click DNS, select the grid master, and click the start button.

Now on to discovering the VPC, Subnets and used IPs. Click on Data Management -> IPAM, then click on vDiscovery on the right hand side. I used the following settings.

1. Step 1, Job Name – AWS. Member infoblox.localdomain (assuming you left everything default when setting up the grid).
2. Step 2, Server Type – AWS, Service Endpoint – ec2.<region>.amazonaws.com, Access Key ID – <vDiscovery User Access Key>, Secret Access Key <vDiscovery Access Key>.
3. Step 3, no changes
4. Step 4, enable DNS host record creation. Set the computed DNS name to ${vm_name}
5. Step 5, Click Save & Close

Here is a screen shot of my settings for Step 4 (above).

Now to run the vDiscovery. Click the drop down arrow on Discovery and select vDiscovery Manager. Select the AWS Job, then click start.

Hopefully the job will complete in a few seconds (Assuming you have a small environment). My job ran fine and discovered the two VPC’s I have in my Region.

Drilling down into the first Subnet in my default VPC lists the addresses currently in use or reserved. Here I set the filter to show a Status equals used.

This should do for now. The next article will walk through the integration with vRAC, including the deployment of an AWS machine with defined IP, and one with the first available IP in a Range.

Stay tuned.

It looks like my efforts in 2019 finally paid off, as I was awarded VMware vExpert 2020 in late February 2020.

I started working on content early last year, publishing close to 10 articles between knotacoder and my employers website.

Plus I signed up for a couple of VMware Design Programs (vRA and vROPS) which also helped give me more items to claim on my submissions.

Thanks to everyone who visited this site since last year. I’m currently working on additional vRAC content even as I type.