Automated Initial Configuration of VCF Operations 9 using CASA API

If you have recently followed my automated deployment of the VCF Operations 9.0 OVA, you might also be interested in automating the initial setup wizard that appears when you first access the appliance in a browser, as shown in the screenshot below.

Funny enough, this was a topic I had originally planned to cover back in 2014 using the vRealize Operations Cluster and Slice Administration (CASA) API, but I never got to Part 3 of the blog post. 😅

The CASA APIs are still applicable in VCF Operations 9.0 and are now better documented. You can access the built in API documentation by navigating to https://vcf02.vcf.lab/casa/api-guide.html (replace the FQDN with your deployment) which includes example requests, which are always helpful when learning how to use a new API!

To demonstrate the use of the VCF Operations CASA API to automate the initial configuration, I have created a simple PowerShell script that you can use and extend.

For simplicity purposes, the configure_vcf_operations.ps1 script is currently assuming a combined master and data node, but you can easily adjust the script to support additional node types as well as other configurations.

After you have updated the script with your environment details, you can run the script as shown in screenshot below:

One configuration that I was not able to automate was the acceptance of the EULA and Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), which is currently provided to VCF Operations UI as a private API, but even tinkering with that, I was not able to figure it out. If this changes, I will update the script.

For now, you will still need to manually complete this wizard and then you will login to your configured VCF Operations instance!