Modifying installation and product template files

Last Updated March 13, 2025

This topic describes how you can modify your VMware Tanzu Operations Manager installation by decrypting and editing the YAML files that Tanzu Operations Manager uses to store configuration data.

You can use these procedures to view and change values that you cannot access through the Tanzu Operations Manager web interface. You can also modify the product templates that Tanzu Operations Manager uses to create forms and obtain user input.

You might want to modify the Tanzu Operations Manager installation and product template files for a number of reasons, including the following:

To change the User Account and Authentication (UAA) admin password of the deployment
To retrieve key values
To migrate content across different Tanzu Operations Manager releases

Be careful when you make changes to your Tanzu Operations Manager installation and product template files. Use spaces instead of tabs, and remember that YAML files use whitespace as a delimiter. Finally, VMware does not officially support these procedures, so use them at your own risk.

About installation and product template files

During the installation process, Tanzu Operations Manager combines information from the installation and product template files to generate the manifests that define your deployment.

Installation files: Tanzu Operations Manager stores user-entered data and automatically-generated values for Tanzu Operations Manager in installation YAML files on the Tanzu Operations Manager VM. Tanzu Operations Manager encrypts and stores these files in the directory /var/tempest/workspaces/default. To make changes, you must decrypt the files, edit them as necessary, and then re-encrypt them.
Product templates: Tanzu Operations Manager uses product templates to create forms and obtain user input. The job_types and property_blueprint key-value pairs in a product template determine how the jobs and properties sections are displayed in the installation file. Tanzu Operations Manager stores product templates as YAML files in the directory /var/tempest/workspaces/default/metadata on the Tanzu Operations Manager VM. These files are not encrypted, so you can edit them without decrypting. User input does not alter these files.

When you upgradeTanzu Operations Manager your changes might be removed from the installation and product template files.

Modify the installation files

Perform the following steps to locate, decrypt, and edit the Tanzu Operations Manager installation files installation.yml and actual-installation.yml.

SSH into the Tanzu Operations Manager VM by following the steps in Log Into the Tanzu Operations Manager VM with SSH.
On the command line, go to the scripts directory:
```
$ cd /home/tempest-web/tempest/web/scripts/
```
Run the following command to decrypt the installation YAML file and make a temporary copy of the decrypted file. When prompted for a passphrase, enter the decryption passphrase you created when you launched Tanzu Operations Manager for the first time:
```
$ sudo -u tempest-web SECRET_KEY_BASE="s" ./decrypt /var/tempest/workspaces/default/installation.yml /tmp/installation.yml
```
Open /tmp/installation.yml to view or edit values.
If you plan to make changes, make a backup of the original installation YAML file:
```
$ cp /var/tempest/workspaces/default/installation.yml ~/installation-orig.yml
```

If you have made changes to your copy of the installation YAML file, you must encrypt it and overwrite the original with it:

$ sudo -u tempest-web SECRET_KEY_BASE="s" RAILS_ENV=production /home/tempest-web/tempest/web/scripts/encrypt /tmp/installation.yml /var/tempest/workspaces/default/installation.yml

When you are prompted, enter a passphrase.

Delete the temporary copy of the decrypted file:
```
$ rm /tmp/installation.yml
```
Repeat steps 2 through 7 for /tmp/actual-installation.yml. For each step in which you see installation.yml, replace it with actual-installation.yml. For example, for step 3 you run:
```
$ sudo -u tempest-web SECRET_KEY_BASE="s" ./decrypt /var/tempest/workspaces/default/actual-installation.yml /tmp/actual-installation.yml
```

Restart the Tanzu Operations Manager web interface:

$ sudo service tempest-web stop && sudo service tempest-web start

Go to Tanzu Operations Manager in a browser and enter your decryption passphrase.
Log in to Tanzu Operations Manager.
Click Review Pending Changes, then Apply Changes.
If Tanzu Operations Manager cannot load your changes, see Revert to your backup to restore your previous settings.

Modify product template files

Complete the following steps to locate and edit your Tanzu Operations Manager product template files:

SSH into the Tanzu Operations Manager VM by following the steps in Log into the Tanzu Operations Manager VM with SSH.
On the Tanzu Operations Manager VM, go to the /var/tempest/workspaces/default/metadata directory.
```
$ cd /var/tempest/workspaces/default/metadata
```
The /var/tempest/workspaces/default/metadata directory contains the product templates as YAML files. If you plan to make changes, make a backup of the original product template YAML file:
```
$ cp /var/tempest/workspace/default/metadata/YOUR-PRODUCT-TEMPLATE.yml ~/YOUR-PRODUCT-TEMPLATE-orig.yml
```
Open and edit the product template YAML file as necessary. For more information about product templates, see Product template references.
Go to Tanzu Operations Manager to see your changes.
If Tanzu Operations Manager cannot load your changes, see Revert to your backup to restore your previous settings.

Revert to your backup

Complete the following steps to revert to your backup of an installation or product template file:

SSH into the Tanzu Operations Manager VM by following the steps in Log into the Tanzu Operations Manager VM with SSH.

Overwrite the modified file with the backup:

For the installation file, run the following command:

$ cp ~/installation-orig.yml /var/tempest/workspaces/default/installation.yml

For a product template file, run the following command:

$ cp ~/YOUR-PRODUCT-TEMPLATE-orig.yml /var/tempest/workspaces/default/metadata/YOUR-PRODUCT-TEMPLATE.yml