Section 9: Configure and Administer vSphere Availability Solutions

Objective 9.3: Setup and Configure App HA. In this objective we should be covering these topics:

• Identify vSphere App HA requirements
• Identify available services protected by vSphere App HA
• Add applications to vSphere App HA
• Configure vSphere App HA policies

vSphere App HA Overview
vSphere App HA is a plug-in to the vSphere Web Client. vSphere App HA allows you to define high availability for the applications that are running on your virtual machines in your environment.

 Setting Up vSphere App HA

After you deploy vSphere App HA, you must set up vSphere App HA and connect to the vCenter Hyperic server.

Prerequisites
■  Your vCenter Server license must include the vSphere App HA feature.
■  vCenter Hyperic server must be installed on vCenter Server.

Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client using the vSphere App HA.Modify credentials at root level.
2. From the Inventory menu, navigate to Administration > vSphere App HA.
3. Click the Settings tab.
4. Type the following parameters to configure the vCenter Hyperic server and click Apply.

5. Approve the vCenter Hyperic certificate.
A connection to the vCenter Hyperic server is established.

Access vSphere App HA Using vSphere Web Client
You can access vSphere App HA through the vSphere Web Client. vSphere App HA is compatible only with the vSphere Web Client.

Prerequisites
Deploy the vSphere App HA plug-in on vSphere Web Client. For more information, see the vSphere App HA Installation and Configuration Guide.
Procedure
1. Open a Web browser and type the URL for accessing the vSphere Web Client, https://client-hostname:port/vsphere-client.

You can use the IP address of the vSphere Web Client as an alternative to the client host name.

By default the port is 9443, but this can be changed during vSphere Web Client installation.
2. Type the credentials in the Username and Password text boxes.
3. Click Login.
If vSphere App HA is deployed correctly, vSphere App HA is listed on the Administration page of vSphere Web Client. Also, the Applications Availability tab appears under the Monitor tab.

Enable a vSphere App HA Plug-In
You can enable a disabled vSphere App HA plug-in.

When you deploy a vSphere App HA plug-in, it is enabled by default. If you have had to disable the plug-in, you can re-enable it.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client with vSphere administrator credentials.
2. From the Inventory menu, click Administration.
3. Click Solutions > Client Plug-ins.
4. Right-click the vSphere App HA plug-in and click Enable.

Disable a vSphere App HA Plug-In
You can disable the vSphere App HA plug-in.

Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client with vSphere administrator credentials.
2. From the Inventory menu, click Administration.
3. Click Solutions > Client Plug-ins.
4. Right-click the vSphere App HA plug-in and click Disable.

Disabling the plug-in does not remove the plug-in from the vSphere Web Client. You must uninstall the plug-in to remove it.

Managing Services
You can use view the services in your virtual environment and perform management tasks, such as assigning policies and putting services into maintenance mode.

Service Availability Summary
The summary status of the services is displayed on the Monitor > Applications Availability tab.

Services can be designated as available, unavailable, of unknown status, unsynchronized, or in maintenance mode.

The Availability Status Summary icon above the table indicates the most critical status of the all the services in the table. A summary of all services that are not categorized as Available are listed below the icon.

Availability Status Summary

Services Availability Status
The Services Availability Status table provides details of all the application services that are running in your environment, including essential information such as the virtual machine name and install path of each service, its availability status and any remediation policy that is assigned to the service. You can also manage services such as assigning or changing a policy for a service, putting a service into maintenance mode, and so on. manage services.

You can filter and sort the table.

Services Availability Table

Assign a Policy to Application Services
You can assign a policy to one or more application services that are of the same service type.

Prerequisites
■ Define a policy. For more information about policy creation, see Create a Policy.
■ Verify that you have vSphere App HA.Modify privileges for each virtual machine on which the services to which you will apply a policy are running.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client using the vSphere App HA.Modify credentials.
2. On the Monitor tab, click the Application Availability tab.
3. Select the services for the applications to which you want to assign a policy.

If you select one or more services that are incompatible with the service type, the Assign Policy icon disappears.
4. Click the Assign Policy icon .

The Assign Policy window appears, which filters and lists all the policies according to service type in a tabular form.
5. Select a policy.
6. Click OK.
The selected policy is assigned to the application services that you specified.

Unassign a Policy
You can unassign a policy from one or more application services. The unassigned policy is removed from the application service.

Prerequisites
Verify that you have vSphere App HA.Modify privileges for each virtual machine on which the services from which you are unassigning a policy are running.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client using the vSphere App HA.Modify credentials.
2. On the Monitor tab, click the Application Availability tab.
3. Select the services for the applications from which you want to unassign a policy.

Services do not have to be of the same service type.
4. Click the Unassign Policy icon .
The policy is unassigned from the selected application services.

Policies in vSphere App HA
A policy is an object that defines the service type, and the remediation actions to occur when a service becomes unavailable .

You can assign a policy to multiple services.

The service type that you define in the policy must be compatible with the service it is assigned to.

You can view all the policies in the policies table on the Policies tab. The policies can be filtered and sorted.

You can also delete policies on the Policies tab.

Create a Policy
You can create a policy in which you define the remediation actions to take place when the service is unavailable or unstable.

Prerequisites
■ To get email notifications, you must have configured the vCenter Server mail server, using vSphere Web Client.
■ To trigger alarms, you must have configured the VMware vCenter AppHA Plug-in on thevCenter Hyperic server.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client using the vSphere App HA.Modify credentials at root level.
2. Navigate to Administration > vSphere App HA.
3. On the Policies tab, click the Create Policy icon (+).
4. Type the Policy Name and Description, and click Next.

The policy name must be unique. The description is optional.
5. From the Application Service drop-down menu, select an application service type.
6. Complete the information in the service configuration text boxes, or verify that the Use current configuration check boxes are selected, and click Next.
7. (Optional) Select the remediation actions that take place when the service is unavailable or unstable.

8. Click Next.
9. (Optional) Create a vCenter Server alarm for the policy by selecting the Service has stopped event to trigger the vCenter Server alarm.
10. (Optional) Type comma separated email addresses for notification purposes, and click Next.
11. In the Ready to Complete screen, verify the settings and click Finish.
A policy is created and is listed in the policy definition table. You can assign this policy to services of the same type.

View a Policy
You can view details that you specified for a policy.

Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client.
2. Navigate to Administration > vSphere App HA.
3. On the Policies tab, click the View Policy icon .
In the policy wizard you can view all the information that was specified for the policy. You can select wizard screens in random order. The data is read only.

Edit a Policy
You can change the values in a policy, including policies that have already been assigned to services.

If a conflict occurs between the changes that you make to an assigned policy and the required settings of the service, the policy is detached from that service and an error appears in the Policy column of the Service Availability table.

Some of the key reasons that might cause this issue are:

■ bad configuration in the edited policy
■ inability to communicate with the vCenter Hyperic server
■ the VMware vCenter AppHA Plug-in not being configured.

You can edit the policy again and reassign it, or assign a new policy to the services.
Prerequisites
■ When the policy that you are editing is assigned to services, you must have vSphere App HA.Modify privileges for each virtual machine on which the services are running.
■ When the policy that you are editing is assigned to services, those services must be in maintenance mode before you edit the policy.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client using the vSphere App HA.Modify credentials at root level.
2. Navigate to Administration > vSphere App HA.
3. On the Policies tab, select the policy to edit and click the Edit Policy icon .
4. Change the values of the policy as required, and click Next.
5. In the Ready to Complete screen, verify the settings and click Finish.

Duplicate a Policy
You can use an existing policy as a template for a new policy, using the Duplicate Policy function.

When you duplicate a policy, the default name is Copy of original policy name. All other details are the details of the original policy.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client using the vSphere App HA.Modify credentials at root level.
2. Navigate to Administration > vSphere App HA.
3. On the Policies tab, click the Duplicate Policy icon .
4. (Optional) If required, change any of the values provided in the wizard.
5. In the Ready to Complete screen, verify the settings and click Finish.
The policy is created and is listed in the policy definition table. You can assign this policy to services of the same type.

Delete a Policy
You can delete a policy and remove it from the policy definition table.

Prerequisites
If a policy is assigned to a service, you must unassign the policy before you can delete it.
Procedure
1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client using vSphere App HA.Modify credentials at root level.
2. Navigate to Administration > vSphere App HA.
3. On the Policies tab, select the policy to be deleted in the policy definition table.
4. Click the Delete Policy icon .
5. Click Yes on the confirmation message.
The policy is deleted from the policy definition table.