Configure an ESX agency and ESX agents

You must define the configuration of the ESX agencies in the implementation of the solution. You set the configuration for ESX agencies and ESX agents in the

AgencyConfigInfo

and

AgentConfigInfo

data objects.

Download the vSphere ESX Agent Manager SDK.

When you create ESX agencies, you provide the

AgencyConfigInfo

object with an array of

AgentConfigInfo

objects for each version of

ESXi

on which the agency deploys ESX agents. You also define the name of the ESX agency and of the ESX agents and the scope of the ESX agency in the

AgencyConfigInfo

object.

You define the deployment of the ESX agent virtual machines in the

AgentConfigInfo

object. You set the following information in the

AgentConfigInfo

object.

A URL to the Open Virtualization Format (OVF) file from which to deploy the ESX agent.

A URL to an optional vSphere Installation Bundle (VIB) that adds function to

ESXi

, for example a VMkernel module or a custom

ESXi

application that you developed.

The URL to the ESX agent virtual machine OVF and the URL to an optional VIB must lead to a server that ESX Agent Manager can access. ESX Agent Manager downloads the ESX agent virtual machine from the URLs that you provide and deploys the virtual machines on the

ESXi

hosts. ESX Agent Manager installs one ESX agent instance per agency per host.

To install VIBs, all

ESXi

hosts must have configured the firewall so that they can access the HTTP port on the

vCenter Server

instance.

Setting the

ovfEnvironment

property allows a solution to provide OVF properties specific to the ESX agent virtual machine. ESX Agent Manager sets the OVF properties when it deploys an ESX agent. A typical use of the

ovfEnvironment

field is to specify the IP address and credentials of the solution so that ESX agents can connect back to the solution when they are running.

Create a program to configure and create ESX agencies and agents.

Your solution can define the configuration and creation of ESX agencies and agents in the

MyAgentHandler.java

class.

public MyAgentHandler(String selfUrl,
                    String selfIp,
                    String ovfUrl4x,
                    String ovfUrl50,
                    String vibUrl4x,
                    String vibUrl50,
                    boolean deployVibs,
                    Map<String, String> ovfEnvironment,
                    VcUtils vcUtils) {
   _vcUtils = vcUtils;

   _agentConfigInfo4x = new AgentConfigInfo();
   _agentConfigInfo50 = new AgentConfigInfo();

   [...]
}

Create

AgentConfigInfo

instances for each type of ESX agent that the ESX agency deploys.

Your solution can define ESX agents for

ESXi

6.7 and for

ESXi

7.0.

public AgentHandler([...]) {
   [...]
   _agentConfigInfo67 = new AgentConfigInfo();
   _agentConfigInfo70 = new AgentConfigInfo();
   [...]
}

Set the URLs to the OVF files from which the solution deploys ESX agent virtual machines by calling the

AgentConfigInfo.setOvfPackageUrl()

method.

Your solution can construct the URLs to OVF files from information that you set in the

mysolution

.properties

file.

public MyAgentHandler([...]) {
   [...]

   _agentConfigInfo67.setOvfPackageUrl(urlPrefix + ovfUrl4x);
   _agentConfigInfo70.setOvfPackageUrl(urlPrefix + ovfUrl50);

   [...]
   }

Set the URLs to the optional VIB files from which the solution adds functions to

ESXi

by calling the

AgentConfigInfo.setVibUrl()

method.

Your solution can construct the URLs to VIB files from information that you set in the

mysolution.properties

file.

public MyAgentHandler([...]) {
   [...]

   _agentConfigInfo4x.setOvfPackageUrl(urlPrefix + ovfUrl4x);
   _agentConfigInfo50.setOvfPackageUrl(urlPrefix + ovfUrl50);

   if (deployVibs) {
      _agentConfigInfo67.setVibUrl(urlPrefix + vibUrl4x);
      _agentConfigInfo70.setVibUrl(urlPrefix + vibUrl50);

      [...]
   }
}

Set any OVF environment properties that the solution requires by creating an instance of the

AgentOvfEnvironmentInfo

object and passing it to the

AgentConfigInfo

object for each ESX agent.

Your solution can set some dummy properties in the

eamri-webapp.xml

file.

public MyAgentHandler([...]) {
   [...] 
   AgentOvfEnvironmentInfo ovfEnv = new AgentOvfEnvironmentInfo();
   for (final Map.Entry<String, String> entry : ovfEnvironment.entrySet()) {
      ovfEnv.getOvfProperty().add(new AgentOvfEnvironmentInfoOvfProperty() {
         {
            setKey(entry.getKey());
            setValue(entry.getValue());
         } 
      });
   }
   _agentConfigInfo67.setOvfEnvironment(ovfEnv);
   _agentConfigInfo70.setOvfEnvironment(ovfEnv);
   [...]
}

Create an instance of

AgencyConfigInfo

to define the ESX agency that the solution deploys.

public MyAgentHandler([...]) {
   [...] 

   _agencyConfigInfo = new AgencyConfigInfo();
   [...]
}

Provide names for the ESX agency and the ESX agents by calling the

AgencyConfigInfo.setAgencyName()

and

setAgentName()

methods.

Your solution can name the ESX agency and the ESX agents My Service.

public MyAgentHandler([...]) {
   [...] 

   _agencyConfigInfo = new AgencyConfigInfo();
   _agencyConfigInfo.setAgencyName("My Service");
   _agencyConfigInfo.setAgentName("My Service");
   [...]
}

Add an array of ESX agent configurations to the ESX agency configuration by calling the

AgencyConfigInfo.getAgentConfig()

method.

public MyAgentHandler([...]) {
   [...] 

   _agencyConfigInfo = new AgencyConfigInfo();
   _agencyConfigInfo.setAgencyName("My Service");
   _agencyConfigInfo.setAgentName("My Service");
   _agencyConfigInfo.getAgentConfig().add(_agentConfigInfo4x);
   _agencyConfigInfo.getAgentConfig().add(_agentConfigInfo50);
   [...]
}

Set the scope of the ESX Agency by calling the

AgencyConfigInfo.setScope()

method.

Users of your solution can set the scope of the ESX agency by selecting

ESXi

hosts from your solution Configuration page. Consequently, the scope is empty until your solution updates it according to the user interaction.

public MyAgentHandler([...]) {
   [...] 
   _agencyConfigInfo.setScope(null);
   [...]
}

You set the configuration properties for an ESX agency and the ESX agents that it contains.

Call the

createAgency()

method to create the ESX agency.

How do I integrate a solution with ESX Agent Manager

Connect a solution to ESX Agent Manager

Create an ESX agency

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VMware vSphere SDKs and Tools 8.0

Configure an ESX agency and ESX agents